Niger v Ghana – Afcon 2013

We met at 6pm.

I was the last to arrive, a beer was poured and waiting for me. A quick chat, distribute the tickets and off to the van,

We arrived at the Fettes road gate within 10 minutes, our lift dropped us off within 10 meters of the entrance unlike large well attended rugby tests there was no queue! A quick stroll through the electronic turnstile, a cursory body pat down and off to find our seats.

I wasn’t disappointed, it’s fair to say that in our new ultra modern 2010 stadium there perhaps isn’t a bad seat in the house, just some better than others!

The stadium was perhaps a third full (a later stadium announcement put the crowd at 14,000 (capacity 45,000)) but what an atmosphere, what a noise.

The rhythmic African drums were beating as we entered, the chanting in full swing and it was non – stop (except during the anthems of course)

Colourful dress and national costumes in bright red, yellow and green set against the West African black. There was a small pocket of Niger supporters off to my right, perhaps 150 or so but the balance of the crowd were here to cheer and support the Black Stars of Ghana.

We had a visit from what appeared to be a Sangoma, (or whatever they’re called in West Africa) he was walking through the stand, scattering his muti in every direction (pictured left.)

I had long prior to the games decided to support Ghana as my second team of the tournament, who can forget the Uruguayan Suarez’s deliberate hand ball in the dying seconds of the 2010 world cup quarter final to deny Ghana victory and a place in the semi-finals?

It was Asamoah Gyan who missed the penalty that fateful night, and it was Asamoah Gyan who captained and led his team out last night, he then went on and scored the opening goal in the 6th minute.

Ghana went on to score another 2 goals and qualify for the quarter final stage as group winners, (final score Niger 0 – Ghana 3)

As we left the stadium our lift came cruising up the road next to the buses, we piled in and were back at our starting off point within 5 minutes.

A seamless night out, well organised, magnificent vibe, good game, another great event for the memory bank.