Al-Merrikh Stadium, in Sudan’s second largest city of Omdurman, is not one of the world’s great gladiatorial arenas. Yet this small ground – known as the Red Castle – became the setting for one of football’s most extraordinary tales.
Yet, while Ivory Coast’s footballing stars stood on the verge of history, back home the country teetered on the edge of something dark. A civil war that began in 2002 had divided the country, with President Laurent Gbagbo’s government controlling the south and a rebel faction known as The New Forces of Ivory Coast, led by Guillaume Soro, controlling the north.
The initial violence was fierce but short-lived, as both sides became quickly entrenched along a north-south divide. Much of the fighting had ended in 2004, but tensions were rising once again in 2005. The future of the West African country looked bleak.Modern footballers can seem a world away from the everyday man and woman. The money involved can catapult them into a different realm, and the results can be unpalatable.
Drogba was indeed a serial winner, but the pressure on that October night in Sudan was entirely different. For every tale of heartbreak, there must be one of joy. Pierre Wome’s spot-kick crashed against the left-hand post and flew wide. The Cameroon players gathered, dazed and despondent in the penalty area, some pulling their shirts over their eyes. On the other side of the continent, Ivory Coast erupted. For the first time in their history, they would compete at the highest level of international football.
“We promised you that the celebrations would unite the people – today we beg you on our knees.” On cue, the players sank to their knees. Yet something was stirring and the following weeks and months were to see a dramatic change. The video clip played relentlessly on television as if the sheer force of media exposure might be enough to enact change.
Ivory Coast’s home match and Madagascar, due to be played on June 3, 2007, would not be played in Abidjan as scheduled, he said, but instead in Bouake, the symbolic centre of the rebellion. This would have been unimaginable just two years before. Whether presidential permission was given for Drogba’s announcement is still not entirely clear.
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I felt emotional reading this story
If any country fighting war at this time it's war plus war
He's a star and commands lots of Followernship than the politicians who wanted to put the country at turmoil
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