more sports
I went running again. The good part was that we started at 5:30 am (because it was Sunday) rather than 5:00 am. I knew it was still “early” because we passed a wedding reception that was still happening. The bad news was my performance. On Wednesday, I made it all the way up the hill to the nuclear reactor, probably only a couple of hundred meters from the finish. By Sunday, I only made it about ¾ of the route, which I guess is about 5 miles. Unlike the first time, the “captain” was there and he set a pretty fast pace. I liked being pushed but wore out sooner than I wanted (no doubt still feeling the effects of Wednesday). So I walked for a few minutes and then got adopted by a boxer from Brazzaville who was on the route and preferred a slower pace, so I ran for a while longer and then dropped out for good and let him continue his training.
On to the Simbas, their run is over unfortunately. They got beat by Egypt, 4-1, on Friday evening. And I am not going to report who scored the Simbas’ goal, because it was a deflection by an Egyptian defender. As bad as the score looks, they played respectably and had a couple of good chances. There were a couple of bad calls that definitely favored the home team; Egypt played LuaLua a bit dirty, I thought. Egypt is a strong team and, regardless of the officiating, pretty much dominated. The DRC has some good young players who will hopefully get some high-level professional experience before the next Africa Cup (2008) and the World Cup (2010 in South Africa). Apparently the Africa Cup is a big recruiting spot for European clubs. One of the brightest unsigned stars for the Simbas, though, was Tresor Mputo who stupidly got disqualified, and may have lost a contract in the process. There are Lingala signs around town sponsored by a beer company that literally translated mean, “Cut your hair, Tresor Mputo.” He has locks. Still I didn’t really understand the expression, which was explained to me to be encouraging and mean something like, “Dust yourself off and get it together.”
In other games, Senegal beat Guinea to advance to play Egypt. Nigeria beat Tunisia on penalty kicks. After Nigeria missed two of its first three kicks and Tunisia made its first two, the Nigerian goalie made two consecutive saves! This was sweet revenge for Nigeria who got eliminated by Tunisia in 2004, when Tunisia, playing at home, went on to win the Cup. The other quarterfinal was also decided on penalty kicks--Côte d’Ivoire (the only World Cup team still playing) beat Cameroon and plays Nigeria on Tuesday.
On to the Simbas, their run is over unfortunately. They got beat by Egypt, 4-1, on Friday evening. And I am not going to report who scored the Simbas’ goal, because it was a deflection by an Egyptian defender. As bad as the score looks, they played respectably and had a couple of good chances. There were a couple of bad calls that definitely favored the home team; Egypt played LuaLua a bit dirty, I thought. Egypt is a strong team and, regardless of the officiating, pretty much dominated. The DRC has some good young players who will hopefully get some high-level professional experience before the next Africa Cup (2008) and the World Cup (2010 in South Africa). Apparently the Africa Cup is a big recruiting spot for European clubs. One of the brightest unsigned stars for the Simbas, though, was Tresor Mputo who stupidly got disqualified, and may have lost a contract in the process. There are Lingala signs around town sponsored by a beer company that literally translated mean, “Cut your hair, Tresor Mputo.” He has locks. Still I didn’t really understand the expression, which was explained to me to be encouraging and mean something like, “Dust yourself off and get it together.”
In other games, Senegal beat Guinea to advance to play Egypt. Nigeria beat Tunisia on penalty kicks. After Nigeria missed two of its first three kicks and Tunisia made its first two, the Nigerian goalie made two consecutive saves! This was sweet revenge for Nigeria who got eliminated by Tunisia in 2004, when Tunisia, playing at home, went on to win the Cup. The other quarterfinal was also decided on penalty kicks--Côte d’Ivoire (the only World Cup team still playing) beat Cameroon and plays Nigeria on Tuesday.
posted by irad at 10:32 AM
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