Tanzania: a country split in two

If you are well-read you might think this post will discuss the relationship between mainland Tanganyika and the island called Zanzibar. Unfortunately, you are mistaken. It will instead deal with a much more intricate and important relationship here in Tanzania especially for the male populations. Today as I was walking in town I realized that most men are sitting on these home-made wooden benches sipping tea or coffee out of small cups or plastic mugs eating a small biscuit, sometimes reading the news (mostly the sport section) or listening to stories told by someone. The main topic this week, it is my guess at least, divides this country in two - namely

FOOTBALL

Huh, how is that possible? There is a simple explanation, at least the version given to me, and that is if you are a Tanzanian you have to make two very important decisions. 1) Simba SC or Young African Sports Club 2) Manchester United or any other Premier League team. This is what is creating this split among people. Either you are a Simba fan wearing red/white jersey or Young SC sporting green/yellow. Then the second split it quite obvious when you walk around any Tanzanian town. There are Man United stickers, jerseys sold and placed everywhere. Some busses are more or less covered in Red and Black. The other 50% sides with Chelsea, Liverpool, City or even Italian or Spanish teams.

However, this week must have lead to a big crisis among many Tanzanians. First 50% of the population was devastated when City miraculously won the Premiership title on Sunday. That's probably why it was so quiet around town. All the Man U fans were home in silence, than thee next blow came on Monday. It was time for the national heroes Simba to beat the Sudanese Al-Shandy and continue to the next stage in the African Confederation Cup. They had a 3-0 win from the home game in Dar es Salaam. The troubles started in early second half when the Sudanese scored not only once but twice and finally a third. The game was settled at 9-8 after penalties. I had give up watching the game already at the 45-min mark. Maybe it was the idea of watching a game in Arabic, without sound but with a swahili presenter doing talking including an echo due to poor sound quality. Very disturbing! However, around 11-12pm it was dead quiet. It is usually never this quiet. And it was the second night in a row.

I asked a painter the day after and he just shook his head, because he was one of the unfortunate ones to be not only a Simba fan but also a fan of Man U. Pole Sana!