I don't follow sports avidly (in truth, nothing much more than an occasional glance at a sports headlines on the Yahoo! front page) but I really enjoy going to games. Some of my favorite memories are going down to San Diego and watching the Padres games, not really knowing what was going on, but enjoying the event regardless. Of course, Dar doesn't offer the same over-priced and usually questionable hotdogs and assorted snacks as Qualcomm Stadium but somehow I managed without.
All the CIEE kids went as well as one of the boy's new roommate Morris from Germany who is very nice but rather shy. We piled into a privately hired dalla dalla (it sounds fancy until you notice you can see the road through the floor through the vehicle ) around one thirty and headed off to the national stadium. Having suffered a rather unpleasant bout of an infected eye the previous day I did not stay up until 3am playing beer pong as did the others (and because, of course mom and dad, I would never do that) so while everyone was asking for the music to be turned down I was bouncing with excitement in the backseat. I got a couple of angry looks. But how could I not be excited?! This is a once in a lifetime opportunity! How often do I get to watch a sport that I hardly understand being played by a country's team I don't know play against another team from what may be the most un-heard of country in Africa? Oh yeah...I was excited.
Of course being the Americans we are (plus one German swept along against his will) we got to the stadium nearly two hours early. Fortunately that meant we got to stake out excellent seats in the shade, which was really good because we were all getting pretty hot and sweaty by that point. As the stadium filled in (unevenly on one side because of where the shade was) we all started getting antsy. By the time the team came on, just for practice of course, we were all decked out in "T-STARS" t-shirts with a Tanzanian flag in-hand. The jerseys only helped draw attention to us as we stood up and screamed periodically throughout the match.
Overall it was an exciting match with C.A.R. scoring one point within the first five minutes and Tanzania scoring a total of two goals by the end. In all honesty, the people at the game we far more interesting than the game itself (I am sure some college soccer teams could beat these guys). With every kick closer to a goal, a trip, injury or foul, and especially during goals, the crowd swayed, yelled and sat on the edge of their seat as one. The men in front of us kept wildly gesturing towards the field and yelling at player 13 saying that he was obviously tired so get him out of there! How dare you hinder the game in such a manner! At one moment the whole stadium would be up on it's feet in outrage or joy and the next you could have heard a pin drop. The Tanzanians don't mess around with soccer...
There were a couple strange things that happened throughout the game like players (not the goalie) catching the ball with their hands, and that the field was the length of an american football field instead of a soccer field, but as I do not know much about the sport I kept my mouth shut.
Unfortunately this was a qualifying match and Tanzania was one point short of progressing, but I definitely enjoyed myself and the two goals they did score. The people were animated and patriotic and the company was great (though I do think the vuvuzelas were starting to get to those in my group that had hangovers). Overall, a darn good way to spend a Saturday in Dar.
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