THE CHANGING FORTUNES OF THE "MASHEMEJI" DERBY

Story written by Patrick Kamanga

THE CHANGING FORTUNES OF THE “MASHEMEJI” DERBY

 

Kenya’s two most popular football clubs AFC Leopards and Gor Mahia played out to a 2-2 draw last Sunday. The score line underscored the two team’s quality or lack of it and was a fair result with both teams scoring either from poor goalkeeping or defensive lapses on either half.

Now christened the “Mashemeji” derby, the modern version of this derby is a stark contrast to the epic battles that were fought out during Kenyan football’s golden era in 1980’s, played locally or even in neighbouring countries.

Pitch action during the derby last Sunday

Even the derby’s modern title of “mashemeji” which translated means “the in-laws” belies the rivalry that existed between the two sides then. During that era “nemesis” and “perennial archrivals” were the common descriptions used to depict the two teams’ relationship. The modern mashemeji derby is therefore a sedate affair with skirmishes like the one witnessed at halftime now a rarity. Back then the center section of the “Russia stand” at Nyayo National Stadium would accommodate an entire troop of General Service Unit, garbed in full green jungle fatigue and anti-riot gear, who acted as a security buffer between fans of the two teams just to maintain the peace.

In the modern era the two teams’ fans are regularly seen making merry, dancing and generally having a good time together. As most Nairobians will attest, the modern camaraderie between fans of these two rival teams is a welcome respite which has for the most saved city residents from the scourge of riots and running battles between the rival fans with business owners and motorists bearing the brunt as was the norm in the 1980’s.

However the quality of the game last Sunday was nowhere near what was witnessed in the 80’s. The level of the game and array of talent that graced the derby back then was amazing to say the least.

The first Mashemeji derby that I attended was the final of the East and Central Africa Club Championship in January 1984 which was played at the then newly opened Nyayo National Stadium, with Mr. Muathe, my best friend in primary school Dona’s father treating the entire family and I to the game.

En route to the final AFC Leopards’s topped a group which was based in Mombasa while Gor Mahia was based in Nairobi and surmounted a group that included Al Hilal of Sudan, Rio Tinto from Zimbambwe and Somalia league champions Horseed.

Gor Mahia was under the tutelage of Englishman and former Arsenal utility player, the late Len Julians, who had a talented midfield marshaled by the late Abass Khamis Magongo which dazzled fans with their one touch passing game laced with nicks, dinks and tricks. In their run to the final at a group game, playing a style akin to Barcelona’s “tiki taka”, Gor Mahia’s passing game and humiliating defeat of Horseed so infuriated the Somali club that their players led by star player Mukhtar Awadh lost their heads and started a brawl which took the quick response and intervention of the riot police to separate both teams’ players and officials as the game disintegrated into a free for all and had to be abandoned with minutes remaining.

In the semi finals, Kogalo went on to overcome Berec Power Pack from Malawi while AFC Leopards defeated Uganda’s Kampala City Council to set up an all Kenyan final. Kogalo were the Kenyan League champions while Ingwe came in as the defending regional club champions.

Mike Amwayi scored an early goal to the chagrin of Kogalo fans while Sammy Onyango Jogoo equalized to attain parity for a half time 1-1 draw. Playing under the late Coach Robert Kiberu, Ingwe’s English style “route one” football was in total contrast to Gor’s style and was designed with one purpose, to serve the speedy wingers Francis Kadenge and Mike Amwayi with power-house striker J.J Masiga as the target man and the destructive force upfront. Masiga was to score a late goal and complete a famous win for AFC Leopards giving Ingwe a third consecutive regional title.

With that win, Ingwe firmly established the Nyayo Stadium as their domain and went on to retain an unbeaten run against Kogalo at that arena which stretched a few years.

A star studded Leopards outfit in the mid 80's, Captained by Wilberforce Mulamba at right

With the two teams dominating the East African region, both teams were to meet yet again in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum the following year at the finals of the regional championship for the third consecutive year. Leopards came in as the treble regional Champions while Gor were treble Kenya League Champions. The match was eagerly followed by the entire nation via KBC radio service, with the legendary football commentator Leonard Mambo Mbotela passionately relaying events.

Gor Mahia were the underdogs because eight of their players had been suspended from any football activities by the continental authorities CAF after being found culpable for the fracas in Cairo against the Egyptian club side Zamalek in a continental fixture the previous year. They defied all odds and overcame AFC Leopards via two goals from a hitherto unknown new recruit by the name of William Obwaka.

Another memorable derby was one played in 1986 at the City Stadium. Nyayo Stadium had proven a barren hunting ground after countless loses to their bitter rivals, Gor Mahia then opted to switch tact and thus had their second leg home game played at the familiar climes of “Tok Komwanda” or the City Stadium.

Kogalo fans were left shell shocked after Ingwe cancelled out a two goal halftime lead to complete a famous comeback and win 3-2 with several of their players later getting suspended on suspicion of throwing the game away.

With Danish tactician Jack Johnson taking over the reins at Gor Mahia in 1987, the Dane introduced the then unfamiliar and more defensive 4-4-2 system which smoothed out and completed the work started by his predecessor Len Julians. Julians had embarked on a massive rebuilding program when he took over in 1983 stamping his mark on the Kenyan game with a signature flamboyant Latin style of play. The 4-4-2 system had been the rave in Europe after Italy’s win at the 1982 World cup and no other club side had yet adapted the system on the African continent therefore Jack Johnson’s application was a tactical masterstroke.

This was truly Kogalo’s year as they not only dominated Ingwe at the Mashemeji derby winning thrice (twice in the league plus the Moi Golden cup final) but went on to storm the African continent winning Kenya’s first and only continental title to date!

The last great derby between the two Kenyan giants during that glorious era was played in October 20^th 1989 in a Kenyatta day cup cum league match at Nyayo Stadium. In a tight and tense affair with the game headed for a barren draw burly striker Peter Dawo unleashed a thunderous 30 yard artillery motor round that found the roof of the net past a rooted Omar Shaban in AFC Leopard’s goal to send Gor Mahia fans into rapturous cheers. John “Shoto” Lukoye was to respond in kind moments later sending a grass cutter from range past a stranded David “Kamoga” Ochieng that silenced Kogalo fans sending Ingwe fans delirious. With the league match tied at 1-1, the Kenyatta day cup was decided on post match penalties where Gor Mahia won 5-4.

Gor Mahia's striker and Africa's top scorer in 1987 Peter Dawo pictured in 1990 when he signed for Egyptian Club side Arab Contractors

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The derby’s quality and importance waned from the late 1980’s on as Kenya Breweries; predecessor to Tusker Football Club ascended and became the new force in Kenyan football. The derby’s fortunes kept plummeting in the 1990’s as the country’s soccer standards went under until the renaissance experienced in recent years.

A CASE OF THE MISSING BLACK PLAYER ON THE ALBICELESTE

Story written by Patrick Kamanga. 

A CASE OF THE MISSING BLACK PLAYER ON THE ALBICELESTE

Retired footballer Jorge Ernesto Trezeguet, Afro-Argentine father of David Trezeguet former French player

During the recently concluded FIFA World cup in Brazil, the Latin American region and indeed the American continent was richly represented sending a strong contingent that included Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Uruguay, Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico, the U.S.A and hosts Brazil.

Being an African, I as well as most fans of the beautiful game noted that the one apparent feature among these teams that obviously stood out was the racial consistency of their squads. Some of the teams featured many players of colour with some teams such as Colombia, Ecuador and Honduras even drawing as much as half their squad members from their black population.

The unique oddity in that sense was Argentina which conspicuously lacked one single player of African descent.

That fact has never occurred to me as strange the many times I’ve watched Argentina play over the many subsequent World cup tournaments that I’ve witnessed but with the large representation from the host continent, one would have had to be blind or inherently ignorant to miss this obvious fact.

Why is Argentina unique? How come no black persons have ever prominently featured in their illustrious football history or on the mainstream of modern Argentina for that matter?

The current situation is stark deep in history.

Courtesy of the cruel and inhuman Trans-Atlantic slave trade, the capture and supply of Africans slaves was first done by the Portuguese with the Spanish, French, the Dutch, Americans and English traders following suit which guaranteed their colonies in the Americas a constant supply of free labour for the cotton, tobacco and sugarcane plantations from the 1500’s until the abolition of Slavery and the Slave trade in the mid 1800’s.

The sheer numbers involved were staggering with 1 out of every captured 5 persons that left the shores of the African continent making it to the eventual destination with most perishing in the “middle passage” across the Atlantic. It is estimated that 12 million Africans were shipped across the Atlantic.

The Ports of Buenos Aires and Rio Di Janeiro were the main points of entry and centers for distribution of the human cargo in South America. Their numbers were so great that by the beginning of the 18^thcentury people of African descent were the majority in the American continent with their numbers greater in South America than in the North. Subsequently it is estimated that in the early 1800’s half of Argentina’s population was black.

With this historical account explaining the huge African presence in the Americas, the conspicuous absence of a black population in modern Argentina is therefore truly baffling.

Out of Argentina’s current population of 41 million only 1 million or less than 3 percent identify themselves as “black” or of “African descent”. This is either due to a concerted effort to wipe out “blackness” off the nation’s collective conscience or due to tragic historical events that decimated Argentina’s black population. 

The Argentinean Tango dance, Afro-Argentina's gift to the world

To illustrate how much Afro-Argentine culture contributed to modern day Argentina, historians have rightly credited Argentina’s most famous gift to the world, its national dance the Tango, as having been created by African slaves in Buenos Aires similar to “Capoera” in Brazil.

In a case of art imitating life, early paintings of the dance form depict African slaves as the innovators of one of the world’s most celebrated dance forms.

With the majority of slaves that made it to Argentina having been acquired in Congo and Angola, the tango itself had its roots in the Kingdom of Bakongo. Infact the word “Tango” was derived from the name “Ntangu” meaning “sun” in Kikongo and the movement of ntangu through the sky inspired dance forms on earth that gave rise to the dance movements that were later Creolized by the Spanish and Italian influences in Buenos Aires as Tango which literally means “moving in time to a beat”.

The low demographics however were as a result of a systematic and well orchestrated scheme. The decimation of the black population in Argentina was by most deliberate and is attributed to three factors.

First and foremost the Argentinean War of Independence 1810 -18 and the Paraguayan war of 1861-64 that saw large numbers of blacks enlisted where Afro-Argentine slaves were either forcibly conscripted or lured into the Argentine army with promises of manumission. They were ill equipped and lacked training but served fervently and perished in the front-lines for a country that did not recognize their rights or humanity. The black population subsequently suffered massive casualties in these wars.

Slavery was formerly banned in 1853 but the abolition of slavery only worsened the plight of the “freed” slaves. In captivity slaves were treated well and were well taken care of by their masters. However, ironically after the abolition, the systematic mistreatment of the black population began. Most lived in squalor and abject poverty with absolutely no access to medical care. They were subsequently decimated by the cholera and yellow fever epidemics that broke out in the early 1860’s.

The third factor is the alleged campaign waged upon the survivors of the above two calamities by the Argentine President from 1868-74, Domingo Faustino Sarmiento’s policy of covert genocide and his brutal repressive policies which were aimed at wiping out the black population.

By 1885 few blacks were left with most survivors fleeing to Uruguay and Brazil.

After the sustained elimination of the black population, Argentina then encouraged large scale migrations from Europe. European immigration was seen as the cornerstone upon which modern Argentina would be built.

Northern Europeans in particular were the preferred targets who were viewed as the remedy for Argentina’s economic and political ills. The Spanish were not sort after as they were blamed for the calamitous situation the country was in at the time. Unfortunately for architects of this weird plan, it’s the dark skinned southern Italians, Spaniards and Mediterranean Arabs and Jews who flocked to the country instead of the targeted Anglo-Saxons from northern Europe.

Between 1857 and 1915 an estimated 2.5 million migrants flocked into Argentina. This skewed mindset was the reason that enabled the Gestapo and other German Nazi war criminals from Adolf Hitler’s regime gain easy entry and settlement in Argentina after the Second World War where they lived happily ever after beyond the reach of justice.

Former President Carlos Menem is of Middle-Eastern Syrian Sunni Arab descent, while current incumbent President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner is of German descent.

To illustrate the magnitude of modern Argentina’s disconnect with its heritage and denial of its history, during a State visit to the U.S in 1996, former President Menem retorted after a question from the press about the plight of Afro-Argentineans that “Black people do not exist in Argentina, Brazil has that problem!”

In light of this remark and the above historical account, with half the population of Brazil being black no wonder these two South American football giants never see eye to eye in matters football. Their rivalry goes beyond the game of football and is deeply rooted in both countries’ histories.

Can you imagine then if Brazil as the hosts had met Argentina at the 2014 World cup final at the Maracana? The word “War” would have been an understatement!

The bigger question is, if Argentina’s bigger brothers in the American continent, the U.S.A and Brazil had resorted to the above mentioned measures in dealing with their black population, would modern sports have had the privilege of savoring the talents of such greats as Jesse Owens, Muhammad Ali, Jackie Robinson, Carl Lewis, Michael Jordan, Michael Johnson, Pele, Garrincha, Romario, Ronaldo Asis, Ronaldinho and even Neymar among many others?

It’s sad to imagine that an entire nation can live in such denial even at this late stage where the world has become a digitalized global village.

Information sourced: History of Argentina; Wikipedia.com, True or False; There Are No Black People in Argentina by Prof Henry Louis Gates JR

WHAT AILS THE SOUTH AMERICAN GAME?

Story by Patrick Kamanga

WHAT AILS THE SOUTH AMERICAN GAME?

David Luiz, victim or villain?

Argentina’s 2-1 lose to Germany in the World cup final game at the iconic cathedral of football; the Maracana Stadium ended a miserable week for South American football.

The humiliating 7-1 drubbing that the Brazilian national football team, the Selecao suffered at the hands of the Germany’s national football team, Die Mannshaft came as no surprise to keen observers, what was shocking was the manner and ease with which the German machine carved out the hosts. That national disaster has now been christened the “Mineirazo”

The huge score line however was a microcosm of a larger problem, a cancer that has slowly and progressively ailed the Brazilian game over the last few decades.
The shortcomings of the modern Brazilian game are both technical and administrative.

The lofty stature that the Brazilian game enjoyed prior to that crushing defeat was as a result of the efforts that came about after Brazil’s humiliating 2-1 defeat to Uruguay as hosts in the 1950 World cup final, a disaster better known as the Maracanazo.

The burning desire for vindication and redemption of their national pride was the spur that inspired Brazilian football to great heights and was the bedrock upon which subsequent generations of their footballers took on the world.

From the ashes of that calamity rose names such as Garrincha, Pele, Zico, Socrates and numerous other wizards of the game who became legends and in the process firmly established Brazilian football as the gold standard, the epitome of finesse and artistry.

The Brazilian game thus became the true spiritual representation of the beautiful game, otherwise known as “O Jogo Bonito!”

The great Pele and most of his generation retired after Mexico ’70.
With the 1970 World cup win as their last triumph, the 80’s decade was a trying period for the Brazilian game. Brazil had entered subsequent tournaments as favourites but was eliminated by Italy and France in the quarter finals of both the Espana ’82 and Mexico ’86 editions, followed by a shocking second round loss to a jaded and below par Argentina in Italia ’90. That elimination in Italia 1990 at the hands of perennial nemesis Argentina was particularly painful after which the Brazilian football fathers had had it, they'd seen enough!

Being bundled out by less talented well organized but more disciplined opposition thus became a recurrent theme.

Their game was also at cross-roads and something drastic needed to be done.

More and more of their talent had also been leaving the domestic game headed for Europe a trend that started after the 1982 World cup in Spain, with their footballers attracted by the obvious better remunerations across the Atlantic.

The numbers accelerated through the 90’s and have kept increasing to date. For instance from June 2011 to June 2014, 5,526 Brazilian players were transferred; comprising a 13 % share of the global market, according to FIFA statistics. During the same period 2,311 Brazilian players left the country, primarily for Europe, 199 of them still in their teens.
To add to this grim picture, the vast majority of the current Brazilian World Cup squad except four players is foreign-based.

After the 1986 World cup the game of football became more defensive while the general pace of the game increased a style espoused most by the Europeans with the Italians at the forefront of this new trend. This meant that the slower pace, open spaces within which the Brazilian Samba style of yore thrived and ample time on the ball were no more, with much more close marking, tough tackling and rigid contact play becoming the norm.

Brazilians had to be pragmatic and practical about things if they ever hoped to ascend to the world summit hence the more defensive play introduced by Carlos Alberto Parreira at USA ’94.

Parreira’s system was based on twin full backs that bombed forward at every opportunity but who were covered by two dynamic but robust anchor men, complimented by the flair of several gifted attackers and a powerful striker saw. This system saw Brazil win its fourth World title at Los Angeles’ Rose Bowl in 1994. This same system served them well in 1998 in France where they lost the final to the hosts and was the blue print by which Luiz Phillipe Scolari won the nation’s fifth title at Korea/ Japan in 2002.

The game has since moved on leaving Brazilian football stuck in a time warp using the same old tactics and applications.
The migration of theirs players at an ever younger age has not helped matters as the innate flair the Brazilian footballer is progressively diluted by the rigors of the more rigid European game, problems that have gone on to affect their national team.

The modern Brazilian player is simply a confused lot, with no sense of identity to give him the bearing he needs to stay grounded.

Mano De Menezes was appointed as national coach after the disappointing show in South Africa. De Menezes made an attempt at rejuvenating and changing Brazil’s style of play. He even changed the selection bias that had unfairly ensured only players plying their trade in Europe got selected for national duty.

Taking cue from the "tiki taka" style that was the rave that had propelled Spain to the world summit, he cranked the notch higher and attempted to inject some spark into the Brazilian game by getting his charges to move away from his predecessor Dunga’s negative counter attacking and foul laden style whose mantra had been that results justified the means!
He introduced a progressive, proactive style that attempted to take the Brazilian game back to its flamboyant Samba roots.

The then President of the Brazilian Football Federation (C.B.F) Ricardo Texeira, had overseen De Menezes’ appointment as national coach.
However the massive FIFA “Cash for Votes” corruption scandal which implicated Texeira, a FIFA executive member at the time and his father in-law and former FIFA President, at the time a retired honorary member Joao Havelange resulted in the powerful and politically well connected Texeira’s resignation in 2011 ending his 25 year scandal ridden reign. They were also accused of having taken bribes amounting to $41 million in return for awarding of World cup marketing rights.
The cunning Texeira had over the duration of his tumultuous tenure succeeded in warding off numerous attempts by the Brazilian Congress to reign him in and even Brazil's former leftist President Ignatio Lula Da Silva’s attempts at removing him. Along with his resignation he shrewdly negotiated an exit that shockingly included a consultant’s retainer!

From his retirement perch in Miami, Florida Texeira was still able to influence the planning and organization of the 2014 World cup.

Jose Maria Marin, who had served as the Vice President of the CBF was Texeira’s replacement. Along with the CBF Presidency, he was also appointed Chairman of the 2014 World cup organizing committee. He promised nothing would change thus ensuring his predecessor’s stupendous ways would be perpetuated.

The short-termism at the heart of Brazilian football administration ensured that Marin immediately fired De Menezes as national coach replacing him with an old acquaintance Philipe Luiz Scolari deputized by Carlos Alberto Parreira. The three are part of the influential “Corinthians Old Boys Alliance” which has had a firm grip on Brazilian football for decades. At his resignation the ailing Texeira was 67 yrs, while Marin the current President is 82 yrs with his deputy 73 year old Marco Polo del Nero lining up to take over the reins in 2015.

With such a deep rooted and corrupt bureucratic hierarchy, there’s no end in sight to the way things are run within the CBF, not any time soon.

Argentina still obsessed by the legend of Maradona

Despite reaching the 2014 World cup final with the services of four times World Footballer of the Year award winner Lionel Messi at its disposal, Argentinian football is not faring much better than its Brazilian neighbour.

Serious hooliganism, financial problems and the perennial drain of its top talent to rich European clubs have all conspired to bog down the Argentine game.

The relegation of Argentine football giant River Plate football club in 2011 in particular is symbolic of this degeneration and rot.

Argentina’s national collective psyche has also yet to progress beyond the legend of Maradona at the Mexico ’86, with a “new Maradona” ever taunted at every World cup since 1994 expected to lead them to the “Promised Land”! Victor Ortega had been the chosen one in 1994 who exited the stage in 1998 via the disgrace of a red card, with Pablo Aimar taking over in 2002 before Messi came into the scene in 2006 with none producing the desired results.

With the South American region headed towards the Copa America tournament next summer, a football revolution seems to be taking shape in Latin America with Chile and Colombia leading the way.

Football has evolved and will keep on progressing and therefore the two South American football giants need to objectively re-evaluate the state of their game and institute radical changes that will modernize as well as propel them back to the glories they enjoyed before.