I didn’t have far to go to sample the atmosphere for this game as after a ten-minute walk from my home I was in the Moroccan House at the north end of Portobello Road. It’s a café and no booze was available so, having bought a Supermalt and chatted with the friendly manager, I took a seat in the corner. There’s a large Moroccan community in my area and there are several cafes like this which serve the same function as a pub on the corner.

It’s a smallish, clean establishment with half-tiled walls and plenty of mirrors and paintings up above. The clientele was 100% Moroccan male and by the time the game kicked off at 5pm the place was heaving with around fifty blokes squeezed in, most of them well togged up against the cold with padded jackets and some with woolly hats. It was standing room only at the back and one guy showed initiative by disappearing into the toilet area and returning with a 5-litre tin of paint on which he proceeded to sit in the style of Oor Wullie. The telly was showing the French channel of Eurosport while everyone around me was speaking Arabic.

Morocco really needed to get at least a draw from this game to have a chance of qualifying for the next round but if Guinea beat Namibia, then they’d need to win. As Ghana had already qualified and also had home advantage they were going to take some beating. The two games started simultaneously with both of them being shown on the screen for ten seconds or so before we focused on the Ghana v Morocco match. Ghana had Essien at number 8, Agogo at 9 and Muntari at 11 but I didn’t recognize any of the Moroccan side.

Morocco had the first attack of the match, which drew a ripple from the café, but it was a false dawn as Ghana soon started to show their class. Essien also showed his aggressive side by mowing down a Moroccan player and this necessitated a lengthy break in play. Eurosport took the opportunity to take us across to the Guinea v Namibia game, which was a good idea but when we didn’t return for over three minutes it began to be irritating. Unfortunately they did this on numerous occasions throughout the game. There appeared to be more people on the pitch in this match than in the stands. I was pleased to see that the number 23 for Guinea was called Bah.

When we returned to the main match Essien was soon hacked down in a revenge attack but Ghana continued to flow forward and in the 27 th minute they took the lead. It was no doubt a well-practised move and from a free-kick in the centre-right of the Moroccan half Essien ran behind most of their defence and drove it home just before the advancing goalie got to the ball. The Ghanaian celebrations were most entertaining and consisted of a bird-like dance somewhere between ‘Walk Like an Egyptian’ and ‘Do the Funky Chicken’. The café clientele seemed to take it fairly well and there was even a smattering of applause, presumably ironic.

Morocco had the ball in the net courtesy of a Ghanaian boot two minutes later but it was ruled out, I think, for offside. Although I could see the same expressions and gestures among my fellow patrons as I’ve seen for years at Sunderland games, most of them didn’t seem to be too bothered about the game and there was a fair amount of laughter at their generally hopeless attempts to shoot on target. In the 43 rd minute Essien fed Muntari down the right and he blasted a great shot just over the bar but a minute later he was back again to put his side two-up. Eurosport decided to switch to the other game just as this move built up and hurriedly returned to show the replays. Many of the punters in the café made a nifty exit for a fag at this point and some didn’t return. I think everyone in the place only had one drink throughout – it was very hard to move in your seat let alone battle your way to the counter – but the manager was beaming as he’d probably never seen his place so full for ages. Most of the others were drinking either coffee or mint tea. When I say mint tea, I’m not talking about a cup containing a sweet-smelling teabag but a large glass with half a Triffid in it. I’d noticed that everyone had been very polite about not getting in the way of other people’s eyelines but there was a bit of verbal after the break when a guy returned from outside and complained that someone had nicked his seat. The debate was sorted when an elderly, grey-bearded bloke with a walking-stick stood up and insisted that the returnee take his seat. That sorted him and he went to stand at the back.

Morocco were allowed to press more in the second half but Ghana had all the best chances and were unlucky not to increase their lead. One guy had said “Absolute rubbish” as he went by during the break and I think the Moroccan coach shared his views judging from the look on his face after yet another attack had fizzled out. (Incidentally the Ghanaian coach was a deadringer for Austin Powers.) The biggest cheer, in fact the only cheer, of the second-half was when we went over to the other game to see that Namibia had equalized. For it to mean anything though, Morocco would’ve had to get two goals themselves and that was never going to happen. In the last five minutes there was drama when Ghana hit the bar with a spectacular overhead kick and shortly afterwards Muntari was stretchered off after being arsed in the head while he was sitting on the ground.

It ended 2-0 and so Ghana go through as group-winners and Guinea as runners-up. Home advantage has counted for a lot in this competition in the past as it often does in the World Cup and Ghana are really going to take some stopping. Egypt and Tunisia are forces to be reckoned with too but I haven’t seen the other big teams, Nigeria and Ivory Coast, yet. As I said yesterday, Angola are the dark horses and are certainly a pleasure to watch.

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