Everybody talks about it, bets are placed. Tuesday, March 29. Ghana is having a football match with England. We move our weekly meeting of all volunteers from the office to a gas station to watch the match. Rows of chairs are put up facing the TV and another group facing a bigger screen. Two officials keep the gathering men from standing in front of the chairs. There are almost only men, all excited to see the match, chatting and shouting if somebody passes the screen. They cheer when the ball is passed between the Ghanaian players and time flies by quickly. England scores. Some British volunteers start shouting and get shouts and laughing back. Half-time. Time for drinks and talking. I sit next to other Germans and when a Ghanaian behind us notices he begins to talk about Hitler but we are not in a mood for a discussion like that. The second half starts and I stop concentrating on the match. I just enjoy the atmosphere and the cheering and cursing of the fans although I don‘t understand what they are saying. The match is almost over when suddenly the watching men scream, jump in the air, hug each other and take off their shirts. Score for Ghana. The match is over, 1:1 and everybody is cheering. They behave as if they had won the world cup. I can‘t imagine their reaction if they had actually beaten the British team.
