“We are through to the next round; we are one of the sixteen. We’ve done it Africa!” screamed Hazvi, a Zimbabwean radio DJ soon after Ghana qualified as the only African team going to the next round of the World Cup in South Africa.

“With the Warriors, our national soccer team, eliminated ages ago, Zimbabweans have been shifting their support from one team to another as most other African hopefuls like hosts South Africa, Ivory Coast, Cameron and Nigeria were sent packing." said Tinashe Moyo, a sports journalist.  

Even President Robert Mugabe openly backed the hosts Bafana Bafana after their opening match against Mexico in Johannesburg. But the veteran Pan Africanist, a declared fan of Ivorian star, Didier Drogba, predicted that African teams would be walloped without any formidable challenge.

Bitter memories
“I never backed Bafana Bafana because bitter memories of past and planned xenophobic attacks anger me. If South Africans don’t love us their neighbours like Zimbabweans, Mozambicans and Congolese in times of difficulties, why should we support their team. I therefore backed a disappointing Nigeria,” said Zviko Murehwa, a cross border trader.

But Melusi Mafu differs: “I really wanted Bafana Bafana to sail through. Being a Ndebele, of Zulu origin I consider South Africa to be my roots. And the team I would not even consider supporting would be North Korea. I will never forget that they backed an army that killed many of my innocent relatives during the so called dissident era in my region of Matabeleland in the early1980s.”

Interesting views
A column in The Standard, a local Sunday newspaper also delivered some very interesting views from fans.

“A lot of Zimbabweans back England because they just love the English Premiership. Zimbabweans know by heart all team players in Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool while they struggle to name just five players in any of our local teams.”

On whether to back African teams only, the column divulged some food for thought:
“England has more black players than Algeria, and it is known that Algerians consider themselves more Arabs than Africans; only their goalie is black. They are more interested in the Arab League than in the African Union.”

Spain and Germany were not spared either:
“Memories of how Spaniards treat African players in their league have worked against them. Samuel Eto’o, for example, was always greeted with monkey calls although he lit up the league with his sublime skills. Germany is considered racist because they only began to consider black players for the national team in the past 10 years.”

Surprisingly, even though Zimbabwe adopted a “Look East Policy” after being locked out by the West, there is not much support for Japan and the Koreas, affectionately called in the Zimbabwe as the “zhing zhongs” a nickname for cheap Chinese goods.

As for me, I found it difficult to chose a team, especially when my organisation’s donor nations like The Netherlands, Denmark or USA were playing each other. I must admit that my heart went more to the one from whom I receive more help.