Rwanda 4, Liberia 0

What a weekend!

On Saturday, I did a little bit of work, and then went to meet two of my fellow expat coworkers, and one of our local colleagues, Mbaga at the soccer stadium. The qualifying for the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations is in full swing, and Rwanda was hosting a match.

The stadium is a bit outside the city on the Airport road, and what a scene! The usually full streets and busy traffic was multiplied, and there was a big crowd outside the stadium. The last time I was at a soccer match was the World Cup Semifinal, so the stadium wasn't quite...a model of German efficiency. But it was great. Most of the stadium is uncovered, but we had gotten seats in the VIP section...meaning covered and not a concrete bench, but a real plastic seat. Which actually was very comfortable!

It was great to be there with Mbaga, because he is a huge fan and could give all the dirt on the Rwandan team. Both Liberia and Rwanda are in a group with Cameroon, and were the bottom two teams, so qualifying for Ghana is probably out of reach. Rwandan had two players who were clearly the best - one plays in the Swedish league and the other was the top scorer in the Rwandan league.

The President, Paul Kagame, is a huge fan and was at the game, flanked by security. There was a performance by the army band, and a hilarious heckler (I was told he was hilarious as he was shouting a mix of French, Swahili and Kinyarwanda) I did learn that Sowa means good in Swahili!

A sowa day!