Soccer (or Football as they call it here)

Wow,

Nigerians really really like soccer. Well, let me explain what I mean by that. I started noticing this fact the minute we landed.
    When we got of the plane and were in the baggage claim area, there were a whole bunch of signs everywhere. Each one had a yellow soccer ball on them and said, 'The world will be one in 2010'. So I guessed that these signs were reffering to a huge football event that was going to happen next year.
    There were also similar signs that had a whole bunch of people screaming and waving Nigerian flags (the flag has three vertical stripes, two greens on either side and one white in the middle). Above them were the words 'We're so excited for 2010.' Now I knew something was up about Nigerians and football.
    When we were in Lagos (read my previous posts for more info) I asked one of my friends what his most favorite thing to do in the world. He replied, 'football is my favorite thing to do. I play it all the time.' Now, I think he was reffering to the Nigerian football, which is soccer. Actually America is the only country that calls football soccer.
    And when we were taking a tour of Lagos my pointed out the two ex-national football stadiums. 'That one is the newer one,' he said, pointing out an almost hidden building with abstract concrete blocks surrounding it's outer wall. 'And that's the older one,' he pointed at an abstract building that was pretty large. Now I was almost convinced that Nigerians are absolutely in love with the game.
    And just today I've been totally convinced. We were eating at Mr. Banwills, a restaurant on O.A.U campus, when we decided to go outside. My family all sat down at the table, and my father told me to look down at another restaurant with a whole bunch of people huddled around it. They looked really excited about something. Students would start screaming and jumping up and down, looking through the door at whatever was going on inside there. Every once and a while, more people would join the group and get in on some of the action. I asked my father, 'what are they doing?' 'They're watching soccer,' he replied back. Then I knew that Nigerian are die-hard football fans.
   Here's another interesting fact: Americe is probably the only country in the world that doesn't like football. The Nigerian, British, Kenyan, Ghanian, Brazzilian, South African, and many other countries love football. And what are the countries that like American Football? The only one that I know on is America.

Signing off,
The Traveler