Day 3: War and peace
12 June 2006, 16:29
In 1575 Portugal established a colony at Luanda. They had originally been looking for gold, but turned instead to the slave trade, sending thousands of Angolans to work their Brazilian plantations. We all know what happened in Brazil. They won five World Cups. Back in Angola, Portuguese exploitation lasted until 1975, when the Africans finally gained independence. They have been immersed in a civil war ever since. Portugal meanwhile is no longer a colonial power or a fascist state. They concentrate instead on fortified wine, filigree, and corks.
The two nations have met twice in soccer. Portugal dominated, winning by a total of eleven goals to one (The last game was halted due to violent play). This year, Angola qualified for its first World Cup. Their first opponent: Portugal. The Africans came out in very cool, Houston-Astros-like striped jerseys with weird black-and-white socks. The Portuguese wore their traditional burgundy. They dominated possession early. When the aging, but always smooth, Luis Figo decided to run for a few minutes, he easily eluded an Angolan defender and played the ball back to a wide-open Pauleta. Goal for Portugal after 4 minutes. Down 1-0, Angola played hard and disrupted the Portuguese attack. They had a few chances as well. Their central striker Akwa was guided by an interesting, if inefficient, principle: the only way to score was through a bicycle kick. He tried it several times and came close once. Bursting up the Angola wing was another player with peculiar ideas and a name to match: Loco. He has no hair except for a patch on his forehead. It looks something like a dreadlock mustache, but he made a menace of himself and nearly created a goal.
It wasn’t enough. Angola lost, in a mostly peaceful match, but they showed the world that they might have a future like the more famous Portuguese colony in South America. It will be interesting to see how they fare against fellow oil-producing nation, Iran.
Iran is apparently a quasi-theocratic state. The announcers on ABC were told that this was the most important thing about the Iran-Mexico match. They ignored the soccer almost entirely. At one point, they mentioned that a victory for Iran would cause external expressions of joy, “which never happens.” Apparently, Iranians do not smile. Mexico dominated possession, but the Iranian attack looked dangerous whenver they got forward. The game was knotted at 1-1 for a long time until the Mexicans got a goal on a bad defensive giveaway. It broke the back of Iran. They lost 3-1. There will be no joy in Tehran.
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