Les Etalons Ont Etalé

Burkina is in the midst of national fervor over the African Cup of Nations (CAN). Burkina's soccer team is not well-known even within Africa; the last time the Etalons (Stallions) made it as far as the semi-finals was in 1998. But somehow tonight they beat out Ghana to make it to the finals for the first time ever.

People are really excited, to say the least. Not surprisingly. The star player is a somewhat scary-looking guy named Bance (pronounced Bahn-say), whom everyone goes nuts for. Tonight's semi-final game ended at a 1-1 tie, and Burkina didn't win until the penalty shots at the end. At the end of the game, the channel went back to the studio somewhere in Burkina, where people in body paint and ridiculous costumes had overrun the reporting desk and were jumping around and screaming. It had a charming reminiscence to the quality of the televised daily bulletins students produced at my high school.

The final round against Nigeria will be held this Sunday. There's another teacher in my village who has a solar panel and a satellite dish for watching TV, which is where I watched this last match. I'm trying to decide whether I should go on Sunday or whether I should hide in my courtyard--at any rate, I'll undoubtedly know what happens based on people's roars. They'll be going wild either way. I heard that the police and hospitals in larger cities around the country are already starting to gear up for the onslaught.

Bance, star player, national hero

I never really cared about sports that much, but for once I understand why people are so excited. Burkina is a country that kind of comes in last worldwide at everything, sports and otherwise. No one really seems to expect a win on Sunday, yet that doesn't diminish their optimism. Burkina is a huge underdog, and just getting as far as it did is a huge pride for the entire nation. Finally as a country they made it somewhere, and win or lose, it's still a victory that they'll hold onto for years.

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EDIT: Well, they choked on the final game. It was not a victory, but I still felt victorious. As did Burkina's government, apparently, when they made the questionable decision to declare last Monday night that Tuesday was to be a national holiday in honor of the Etalons. Good ol' Burkina.