I’ll be watching the Super Bowl with one of my sons tomorrow afternoon, but the match I’d really love to watch is the African Cup of Nations quarterfinal between Ghana and Nigeria. This pits two of the most exciting teams in the game most of world calls football, playing in a high-stakes match on Ghana’s home turf. But my options for watching it in the US, despite the hundreds of channels on my television, are pretty poor.
If I could get Canada’s TV5 on my Comcast cable I’d be set. But I can’t. Given the success of the World Cup last year on both ESPN and Univision, I can’t understand why neither of those channels picked up the Cup of Nations. Or why not Fox Soccer Channel? In Europe, it’s recognized as perhaps the most exciting of the international competitions. So I’ll be reduced to watching the match streaming on the web thanks to LiveSoccerTV. Not high-def, but better than nothing.
I have to say that the Cup of Nations has really captured the imagination of my students. One of my Egyptian students requested he be excused from Study Support so that he could watch his home country play. My tip is for an Ivory Coast victory. They have so many good players, not least Didier Drogba of Chelsea. As an additional point, I think it is sheer hypocrisy for English premier league bosses to criticise the holding of the tournament half way through the domestic season. They still find the time to send over their scouts to poach the best talent.