Since residing in the United States for the past 7 years, I have never been to the Liberia 's Independence Day celebration which features the soccer games between two of Liberia 's rival teams: the Invincible Eleven & Mighty Barolle. However, this year, I decided to attend just to see if I could find some old friends and to get the feeling of the motherland. The independence game celebration is just one of the few occasions where you see a tremendous gathering of Liberians at one time. The game was held in West Windsor in New Jersey . The weather was perfect for a Saturday afternoon much to the delight of thousands of Liberians who had congregated from all over the United States . There were Liberians from California , Minnesota , Ohio , Texas , I mean all over. The weather was bright and sunny despite a rain forecast.
I arrived at the venue with my fellow comrades from EducateLiberia . The stadium was filled to capacity. Ticket sales had to be suspended because the stadium was over-crowded. An angry crowd of Liberians gathered at the entrance demanding entry. As usual, many didn't even have the entrance ticket including me. Some were blaming the event planners for choosing a small venue to host such as huge event. As I walked past the crowd, I couldn't help but notice the people that were selling cold beer, roasted meat, roasted cassava, and roasted corn on a cob. Some were peddling these items from the back of the car trunk. It felt like I was in Liberia and I was so nostalgic. The atmosphere was unified. The ladies came out with their attractive attires, radiating the beauty of sweet Liberia . For the first time, I could hear large crowd of people speaking with the Liberian accent. It felt so good seeing how Liberians could be united.
After much lingering at the gated entrance, I managed to walk past the angry crowd with a bootleg ticket I got from a friend of mine. By the time I got on the soccer pitch, the game was already 25 minutes into the second half. Mighty Barolle lead the score with 2 goals to nothing. The game was getting boring as the echoes of boos from the spectators reverberated the entire field.
Invincible Eleven or I.E as they are commonly called dominated the field of play. However, despite their dominance on the ball possession, they couldn't produce a goal. I decided to scout the field in search of familiar faces. I recognized few persons with whom I shared quick greetings. Others just walked past. I had the feeling they didn't want to be bothered. Finally, about 7 minutes left into the game, the Invincible Eleven scored a goal. The game was back on. The fans of I.E went crazy with jubilation. However, all other efforts to equalize the score proved futile as the game ended in favor of Mighty Barolle.
Hundreds of fan flooded the field as the exhausted players from both teams gradually left the soccer pitch. George Weah was the center of attraction. Despite leaving the scene of football for almost 3 years, he was still capacity of drawing a large crowd. The fans were trying to get his autographs and have their pictures taken with him. Despite being fatigued from 90 minutes of strenuous exercise, he gracefully signs few autographs and took pictures with the die hard fans, bold enough to break the circular barrier his bodyguards had formed around him.
This was the second time I had come to meet face to face with George Weah, the man who could have been the President of Liberia. The first time was at the DHL office on Broad Street in Monrovia , where I had gone to pick up the traveling tickets for my younger siblings. He was still playing for AC Milan back then. He had on a beige short with a polo shirt and he greeted me briefly with “what's up”. He was athletic and looked like the Best Player in the World.
However, this time around, he looked out of shape. He had gained a little weight and a slightly protruded pot belly. My guess was that since he was now more into politics, he had to look like a politician. I tried to get my picture taken with him but was prevented by one his bodyguards who bear a close resemblance with him. I later learned that he was the younger brother of George. The only thing left for me to do was to take his picture. There were some violent exchange of obscenities between the crowd and one of Weah's bodyguards. The crowd was reacting to the bodyguard statement. The bodyguard was very rude to the fans but the fans immediately put him into place. The violent exchanges continued until West Windsor Police came and whisked George away into a nearby building. One thing that puzzled me was the way George was been pushed around by his bodyguards. It seemed to me that he lack control of his own life and I kept wondering, if he had been the President of Liberia, how would he run a country in the midst of killers turned politicians in seats of authority if he couldn't control a crowd of die-hard fans just seeking his autograph?
I guess we will never know the answer.
By Base
EducateLiberia.org
July 28th, 2007 |
