During our time in Dar Es Salaam, we’ve been fortunate to be here while the World Cup is taking place. While I’ve never been a big soccer (excuse me, Football) fan back at home, it’s really hard not to get caught up in the excitement here. What is interesting from an American perspective is that Football is the world’s most popular sport, yet a majority of Americans are pretty apathetic about it.
Just about every night we’ve been able to watch one of the games when we go out. People here just love the sport, no matter which country’s team is playing. In crowded bars people are glued to the games, emotionally reacting to every big moment in a game. What was most interesting was that the last team in the tournament from Africa (Ghana), has pretty much been adopted as “Team Africa.” With each goal that Ghana scored, people were cheering and screaming happily in the streets. Unfortunately, they lost in a heartbreaking match with Uruguay last night, and today the whole country of Tanzania (as well as every other African country) was devastated. Usually Tanzanians are always upbeat and won’t openly express sadness, but today everyone seemed a bit sullen over the tough loss.
After a week of watching some really intense football matches, I’ve found myself caught up in the excitement of the world’s biggest sporting event. It’ll be a lot of fun to watch the final game next Saturday, as I’m sure all football and non-football fans alike will be coming together to watch the exhilarating ending to the World Cup.
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