So then, I went to see my first ever World Cup Qualifying Game in Africa...
Since I am currently in Namibia I decided to seize the opportunity and go watch the the Brave Warriors (Namibia) take on the Super Eagles of Nigeria, reigning African Cup of Nations Champions. And it was a super fun experience, for the fraction of the price of what I'd have to pay to see Germany play.
Just to provide a bit of background: Namibia are currently 120th in the FIFA World Rankings, missing several of their best players through injury and had just lost their Swedish coach Roger Palmgren who resigned just this past weekend, citing threats against his family. Though rumour has it that he wants to join compatriot Sven Goran Erikson on a more lucrative coaching gig in China. Anyways, not the best preparations for the Brave Warriors to face a Nigeria including Chealsea's John Obi Mikel and a full contingent of professionals plying their trade all over Europe. Including Köln's very own Anthony Ujah.
The situation in the group was thus that Nigeria were already on eight points, Malawi on six, Namibia on four and Kenya just on two. A win for Nigeria would already have certainly qualified them for the World Cup in Brazil.
On to the actual match. The match took place at the Sam Nujoma Stadium in Katutura, Windhoek. It's the national stadium (capacity 10 300 which seems not much by European standards, but then Namibia only has about 2 million inhabitants). Since public transports not really a thing in Namibia we took the car and when we arrived a quater to kick- off we could already see that the game would be a big event, by Namibian standards (usually the stadium is three- quaters empty for NT games). But the Super Eagles are a big draw- since there also is a sizable Nigerian minority living and working in Namibia- and parking was hard to come to. The designated parking lot in front of the stadium was already filled to the brim, and people had taken to just parking their cars anywhere on the sidewalks were there was space. Luckily we found a nice space there also for our small car and just walked the rest of the way on foot with the crowd.
The atmosphere was brimming with excitement, people carrying Namibia flags, cooking traditional meat on the sideways and a general buzz in the air, though everything was peacefull. We got inside the stadium without problems (and minimal security checks) and found ourselves a nice place on the main stand. I was impressed with how clean and modern everything was, from the artificial turf, to the floodlights, to the actual stands (though I didn't check out the toilet facilities. *ahem*). There were no plastic seats, instead we sat on the usual concrete slabs, but had come prepared with blankets knowing this. The stadium was three- quaters full, one of the best attendences for Namibia I've seen.
The actual match was occassionally low on quality, as you'd expect when the FIFA World Ranking Nr. 120 is playing. Nigeria dominated the first half though Namibia fought really well and managed to go into half- time with a very respectable 0-0 scoreline. I was really enarmoured with the atmosphere, I must say. There wasn't the 90 minutes organized Ultra chanting like in Germany, but there were Vuvuzelas, Drums, and a constant buzz of "Ooohs" and "Aaahs" and shouts of encouragment or disappointment.
In the second half Namibia really started taking the game to Nigeria, who looked increasingly out of ideas (playing at 1800 m altitute might also have played a role). When Namibia took the lead through a well worked attack and a really nice sidevolley, the crowd went absolutely crazy, to an extent I've seldom seen in Germany, with people running up and down the aisles hugging everyone or even spontaniously starting to dance :D. Nigeria equalized soon after, with a direct freekick, pretty much their only chance in the second half.
Anyways, the match ended 1-1, which was a fair result and a decent result for Namibia. When we left, we saw that we were lucky to have parked outside the designated parking lot because it was absolute chaos, with cars trying to go this way and that, all pointing in different directions, while the pedestrians where blocking all the exits. But since we had parked outside we had no problems leaving. Overall, I really enjoyed both the match and the atmosphere, everyone stayed friendly, and it was a great experience.
