It was my first time to watch the finals of any big match at home -after a long time. In most instances, i prefer being around people. In such environments, the spirit of football is so overwhelming that it instantly creates the feeling of oneness, togetherness and emotional connectedness with your counterparts or opponents which is awesomely ayoba! However, regardless of where you get to watch the match from, the feeling is still the same. I watched the Afcon finals with family and it was fun to notice that everyone was entirely hooked on the Zambian side.
In reflection on the finals, i noticed that soccer is more of a religion and European based footballers have lost their shine when it comes to African Tournaments. Starting with the former, soccer is a shared religion because emotions are created when matching a match. It is for this reason that while other cry, some scream and shout after after watching any match. According to Jordi Xifra, civil religion is a religion that demonstrates both the moral and spiritual values of a community. It involves myths, symbols and popular devotion. Soccer as a religion was seen through out the finals especially during the penalty shoot out. Faith was the common thread that tied the players, spectators and viewers together on the finals. One in two people prayed on that night including myself. The long and short of it is that, what is normally done in church was done before, after and during the finals.
Honestly, Zambia had not much to offer in terms of foreign based players. It simply used the basics of playing soccer. Zambia used confidence, endurance,speed, determinism and hardwork. Despite the big names, Zambia was able to triumph over them. We can safely say that, big names do not win, teamwork does.
European football has never worked and will never work in the African soil. Drogba proved this on the finals!
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