Divided Loyalties

It turns out my heart was firmly with the U.S. during its match with Ghana in the World Cup 2010 round of 16. I had thought perhaps it would be divided, but I really, really, really wanted the U.S. to win. Being surrounded by 22 million people who really, really, really wanted them to lose perhaps made it more intense.

It was not to be. But, then, I get ahead of myself.

The trash talking and banter had been hot and heavy at the office all week, with our two U.S. interns, Justin and Andrew, supporting the U.S. along with me, and our employees, of course, supporting Ghana. Similarly, our neighbors were predicting the outcome of the match anytime they would see one of us. Nearly all of these predictions left the U.S. with nil at the end.

On the day of the match, the Daily Guide published a full-page photo of President Obama's and President Mills' faces superimposed on the buff bodies of each team's star player. A side bar story, however, claimed many people were upset that Mills was making his second trip to South Africa in two weeks to watch the Black Stars. In the typical Ghanian way of writing an editorial and calling it news, however, I'm not sure how accurate that story was - several of the fans said at the end of the match, "We won because the president was there.". Bill Clinton did not seem to have the same effect for the U.S. although he and Mick Jagger (?) seemed to be cheering the same team, together, and enjoying it.

So we all went to the Capital View Hotel on Saturday evening to watch the match together. At Microsoft, it would have been called a "morale event", which in my opinion can make any such outing a bit jaded, but we just called it dinner and a football match with a friendly rivalry. I prepared table decorations - a stick with three balloons in red, white and blue along with an American flag, and a stick with three balloons in red, yellow, and green with a Ghanaian flag. As the game got going, we decided the opposition would be allowed to pop a balloon of the other team whenever their team scored.

I must admit, Ghanaians are much more passionate and vocal about their football and their support of the Black Stars (the national team). But when, for so many, daily life can be such hard work and you lack confidence that your leaders are acting in your best interest, having something to rally around provides a sense of pride that is perhaps a basic human need. In any case, it was no surprise that Nat was quick with his fork and very exuberant in his popping of the first American balloon after only 5 minutes of play.

We finally got to pop a Ghana balloon a little too close to the end of the second half than I would have liked. But we did end regulation time in a tie and the thought of 30 more minutes of play was both exciting and exhausting.


When Ghana scored shortly after the start of Extra Time, the next balloon gave way, this time to Nat's knife and I had a bad feeling. With seconds counting down in Extra Time and Ghana still leading 2-1, Rose sat poised with our last balloon in one hand and the Ghanaian flag in the other. The emotion could hardly have been riding higher in the restaurant and in our party of seven as Ghana advanced to the Quarter Finals.

I can't begrudge the team or the fans a well earned berth as they stand alone representing their entire continent in the final eight teams for the 2010 World Cup. It will be nice to be on the side of the 22 million for the next match. Go Ghana!
XO

P.S. Snort wants me to make it clear that he never felt any divided loyalties and is heartbroken over the U.S. loss. He watched every minute of the match, although he says that from his location beside my bread plate, he had a little trouble seeing over the wine bucket. In my own defense, he never said a word. Had he, you know, snorted or something, I would have moved him to a more advantageous location.