A Migrant’s Desperate Day Chasing Work at the World Cup in Ghana
A Migrant’s Desperate Day Chasing Work at the World Cup in Ghana
The second half of the first round of the FIFA World Cup in Gabon has now reached its conclusion. It would take nearly two weeks for matches to be played, after which the teams would meet to determine who will represent their respective countries in the last round of the competition.
But for an uncharacteristically quiet day in the country’s capital, Libreville, Cameroonians began the tournament on Monday morning, without any excitement of any kind, with a group match between Gabonese and Cameroon. The game seemed to be as much about the two countries’ performances as it was about the two players who would represent their respective countries. Despite the lack of excitement, the Gabonese fans showed up in force.
The game did not disappoint. Ghana’s goal came almost minutes into the game, and though the Gabonese were able to draw even, the match’s significance was a draw from the outset. The Cameroonians were already set up to win and were more than up to the task of taking the lead.
However, the Gabonese fans made sure of the victory, as they were able to pull away from a Cameroon side that had not lost a single match since the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations. With a 3-2 win, Gabon had taken the overall lead in the tournament.
The second half began, to be completely devoid of any excitement. Both sides looked to be in similar groups at this point, with both Gabon and Cameroon in groups of three teams, meaning that the second half of the FIFA World Cup would largely consist of a single group of two countries.
But as time went on, the fans began to begin to turn on their TVs. The two countries would have two matches in their group of two, with a potential rematch of the 2010 World Cup final to be held at the end of the second half of the tournament in Gabon, which began with a match between Gabon and Egypt.
And the fans remained enthralled with a game that would have only a little impact, while their own country continued to lose in record numbers.
