Last weekend after watching most of the people here (and from what I've heard, everywhere in Africa) root for Ghana to beat the U.S., I was a little sore. For one, it was no fun losing and it was lonely to be so outnumbered. Additionally, it felt a little to me like everyone was just a "bandwagon" fan. I was grumpy and I convinced myself that few in Sierra Leone actually had feelings for Ghana, they were simply cheering because the U.S. had been beat. Like I said, I was a bit of a sore loser.
But this weekend when Ghana lost a painful quarterfinal match and get knocked out of the tournament, I saw things differently. The celebrations last week felt opportunistic to me. But the disappointment this week was deep and genuine. I saw how let down scores of Sierra Leoneans, as well as some Guinean and Kenyan acquaintances here really were. They were truly crushed.
Plenty has been written about Ghana carrying the hopes of an entire continent. Seeing the reactions here after the loss showed me this statement was more than a cliché. There was truth to it. So many people here want to see their countries rise in stature and there was real hope that this tournament would provide tangible proof that African nations belonged.
That Ghana got as far as they did is admirable in my opinion. But I can see from the widespread feeling of disappointment here that everyone hoped for something more.
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