APR v Young Africans in the African Champions League
Claire and I were hanging out at Yambi Guesthouse with Patrick, the manager, when he told us that there was a football match taking place at the weekend. The game, an African Champions League clash, was being played at the Amahoro Stadium, the Rwandan national stadium. APR, the current Rwandan champions based in Kigali, were to host Young Africans, the current champions of neighbouring Tanzania. It was just what we were after and we decided that we would go along to cheer on APR.
So, Saturday rolled around and Claire and I jumped on Motos, taking them all the way to the stadium in the East of the city. As we got nearer to the stadium the crowds began to build. Then, as we turned into the front entrance a couple of coaches containing travelling Tanzanian fans arrived. Windows down, vuvuzelas blaring, the Young Africans supporters were in a lively mood. They then proceeded to get out of their coaches and form giant conga lines singing and dancing around the car park. They were all decked out in green and yellow, wearing all sorts of club merchandise. There was even one guy with his shirt stuffed with something, making him look really fat, and his face painted black. He also gave the impression that he was mad, flinging his arms around when he yelled incomprehensibly at the top of his lungs. He was, however, very entertaining and a pretty good dancer, which was made all the more mesmerising due to his protruding artificial belly.
Amahoro Stadium
Claire and I bought a ticket from a lady in the street outside the stadium and then got in the queue. We were excited as there were still a couple of hours until kick off and the atmosphere was already on the rise. The Amohoro Stadium is a pretty on the outside, it has nice green grass surrounding it with pruned shrubs dotted around. It is also vibrant and colourful to look at with a range of greens, yellows and blue all bright, adorning the outside of the stadium. We arrived at the bottom of the stairs looking up at the gap in the stand seeing the sun shining down – a sight that always fills me with anticipation – and handed our tickets to the steward. He took a look at them, ripped them up and threw them on the floor, pointing up the stairs for us to enter.
Steps into the ground
One minute later and Claire and I were inside the Amohoro Stadium, sitting on our front row seats in line with one of the goals. The stadium has a running track around the pitch and the seating is arranged in a perfect oval. It’s split into different sections and all of them were painted in yet more bright vibrant colours. It really is a sight to behold. A very pretty stadium to look at. We got in early and the ground was pretty much empty, but within a few minutes of sitting down, a large loud group poured into the same section as us. They were all dressed in green and yellow, blowing vuvuzelas and singing loudly. They were also accompanied by their artificially rotund friend who seems to be some sort of ring leader or over-exuberant mascot. Anyway, we realised then that we were sat with the away fans. We had gone to the game to cheer on APR, the Rwandan team, seeing as we were staying in Kigali, and before we knew it we were sat in the midst of a couple of hundred loud, brash Tanzanians who had made the trip across the border to cheer on Young Africans.
Young Africans fan entertaining the crowd
Fast forward an hour and we were about 20 minutes from kick off. Claire and I had been enjoying watching the madness of the Tanzanian fans as they continued to sing and dance whilst the teams warmed up. But suddenly, we were thrust into the thick of the action. One Young Africans fan put his green and yellow scarf around my neck, another plonked her bright green hat on Claire’s head, and then all eyes were on us. For the next ten minutes loads of Young Africans supporters took it in turns to have their photos taken with us. One guy even offered to buy us both jerseys, but we politely declined, not wanting him to fork out for the pair of us. Coincidentally we found out that Young Africans play in Dar Es Salaam, a major city in Tanzania on the coast, and it is one of our up-coming destinations. So we may go and cheer them on again. In fact, if we are quick enough we may get to catch the second leg of the tie we were watching that day.
Great goal!
Anyway, the game itself was good fun. The stadium was about half full, with lots of people congregating where there was suitable shade, apart form the main set of APR supporters who were situated across the pitch from us in the bright sunlight. APR FC are the nation’s military side, so around half of the fans opposite us were dressed in full camouflaged military gear. Watching around 300 soldiers dancing in unison was a sight to behold. It seemed both sets of fans were up for a party. The Rwandan fans across the way also had a set of drummers all playing together, which sounded pretty cool when we were able to hear them – whenever the Tanzanians went quiet, which wasn’t very often.
In the first half Young Africans took the lead with a stunning 35 yard free kick right into the top corner. I was lucky enough to have caught the goal on camera along with the zealous celebrations of the away fans. The game was stop start in the second half, with plenty of fouls and a bit too much rolling around from both sides, but we were entertained as the home side fought for an equaliser. Eventually they fell two goals behind and the tie looked as good as over. However, a goalkeeping error with five minutes to go allowed APR to bag an equaliser, leading to a tense last few minutes. But the Tanzanians held on and the game ended 2-1. It was thoroughly entertaining, not just for the football but for the atmosphere and the dancing and singing from both sets of fans. And, we only paid two thousand Rwandan Francs each, which equals around two pounds a ticket.
Body paint.
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