SPORTS


The Copper Bullets
Zambia is on course to be Southern African nation since Bafana Bafana in 1996 to win the African Cup of Nations.

In Praise of Mohamed Aboutrika
Aboutrika is the ‘superman’ of Egypt’s football, probably the best African to never play professionally in Europe and a political leader.

If commercials were a competition
A sample of some of the TV commercials made specifically for the 2012 African Cup of Nations football tournament.

JM Coetzee’s Cricketing Life
The news that J.M. Coetzee had contributed to a book entitled "Australia: Story of a Cricket Country" rankled the author, a committed Coetzeephile, slightly.

Super Bowl Predictions
The only way to sustain interest in the lives of African and African American NFL players is to either talk about their personal tragedy or show how moved they are by the plight of other black people.

Football Underdogs and Politricks
The fortunes of Sudan and Equatorial Guinea at AFCON 2012. The latter especially, a squad cobbled together by naturalizing players from Brazil and Spain.

Vincent Kompany is from the DRC
What countries do footballers playing in Europe's top five leagues come from? That's not such a straightforward question and answer.

The French advantage
The largest delegation of foreign coaches at Afcon is French and 8 squads draw more players from the French leagues, than elsewhere.

Remember Caster Semenya
The story of Caster Semenya was always a story of a Black African woman, and was equally always the story of a Black woman.

Something in the water
Africa's best football players come from West Africa. That's just facts.


Africa gets new football kits
Puma created new kits for African teams ahead of the 2012 African Cup of Nations. At first sight, it looks exciting. Up close, the designers stuck to conservative.

Soccer movies about poor, brown people
African football is often depicted with gloom, while European football is either reduced to hooliganism or celebrated through nostalgic 'greatest hits' and childhood wonder on film.

