ELECTRIFYING ATMOSPHERE, BARREN MATCH (PAGE 21, JAN 20, 2010)

THE atmosphere was electrifying, the spectators were hysteric, but the match itself was drippy. No wonder the outcome was a barren draw.
Even though I went to the Badenova Stadium with a colleague on December 12, last year to witness an anticipated competitive premier league match between the home side, SC Freiburg and FC Koln, the passionate supporters of the two uninspiring teams ended up entertaining me.
They were there in their thousands and in the chilly weather, stood on their feet, drumming, cheering, jumping and waving their respective flags to urge their teams on to victory that never came.
The stadium was earlier set ablaze with the arrival of the teams onto the turf. The supporters gleefully screamed the names of their beloved players as it blared out of the loud speakers.
And at the end of the lacklustre match, it became a shouting duel between the partisan Freiburg crowd and the marginal visiting supporters at both ends of the posts. As to be expected, the home side eventually won the shouting competition.
The buzz on the match began on a Friday night with the arrival of supporters of the visiting team into Freiburg. And by the following morning, almost everybody was spotted in the colours of the two teams: red and white.
Vehicles and trams were packed with supporters made up of the young and old of both sexes all heading to the stadium. And by 3:30 p.m. (kick-off) local time, the 25,000 capacity stadium was full.
The contrast was sharp. A premier league match involving my home team, Real Tamale United (RTU), in Tamale, does not receive such patronage. Only few supporters turn up to watch matches at the 21,000 plush stadium. They usually prefer to stay back and pay paltry fees to watch English Premiership matches that have become popular in Ghana, following the exploits of some celebrated Ghanaian players such as Michael Essien. They describe the local matches as lacking in quality.
The Freiburg-Koln match did not live up to my expectation either but their raucous supporters won my admiration for the display of loyalty and adoration for their respective teams.
Never mind that players upfront for the home team were particularly disappointing as they kept on fumbling and dancing around the ball as if they had never directed a ball into the net. Have they?
The vociferous supporters won the day for me after all. And as I walked out of the stadium in a numb feet in the frigid temperature of about two degrees Celsius, I said to myself, “What a match!”