Sports Sports Sports

The Dance of the Dust In Kinshasa, where the Congo River carves its ancient path, a boy named Tshimanga kicks a mango pit across a patchwork pitch of red earth and discarded tires. His eyes gleam with the reflection of a dream: to wear the *Leopards* jersey, to score under the searing AFCON sun. Across the Atlantic, in the manicured stadiums of Europe, his idols Mané, Salah, Osimhen are hailed as kings. But when the drums of AFCON sound, these kings shed their crowns and return, not as mercenaries, but as warriors answering a call older than colonialism.

AFCON

THE UNYIELDING HEART OF AFRICAN FOOTBALL

Jamie Carragher, the Liverpool legend (own goals) turned pundit, recently called this homecoming a “distraction,” dismissing the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) as a tournament lacking the “prestige” of Europe’s Euros or South America’s Copa América. His words, steeped in the myopia of a continent that has long pilfered Africa’s riches, reveal a truth sharper than a thorns: Football’s soul resides in the soil it springs from.

The Roots of the Game AFCON is not merely a tournament. It is a rebellion. Born in 1957, the same year Ghana shook off colonial chains, it was conceived as a celebration of African autonomy. While Europe’s leagues built empires on African talent, AFCON became a sanctuary where skill was not commodified but consecrated.

Carragher’s critique of AFCON’s “disruption” ignores another figure: €500 million the estimated revenue European clubs lose biennially when African stars

Bayern Munich’s panic over Mané’s 2023 AFCON duty, or PSG’s pleas for Achraf Hakimi to skip the 2025 edition, betray a truth. Europe’s leagues, built on African labor, fear the power of a continent reclaiming its sons.

The Rhythm of Resistance AFCON dances to a different beat. Its matches unfold not in sterile arenas, but in cauldrons of sound Algeria’s *Raï* anthems, Senegal’s *tama* drums, Nigeria’s pulsing Afrobeats. In Abidjan, fans draped in *kente* and *ankara* transform stands into kaleidoscopes, their chants a liturgy: *“We play not for empires, but for

The tournament’s Africa’s calm weather season scheduling, maligned by European managers, is no accident. It is a deliberate defiance, a reminder that African time cannot be colonized. While Europe’s football machine grinds through winter, AFCON ignites a flame that warms the soul of a continent.

The tournament’s golden trophy, shaped like a calabash, overflows with stories: of Zambia’s 2012 triumph, a nation healing after a plane crash claimed its heroes; of