African Nations Football Championships 2006

Congratulations to Egypt on winning the Africa Nations.
 

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We have previously featured Jean-Jacques Tizie.  What a tournament he is having!  You can't keep him out of it!He was voted player of the match in the opening game. When he left the field injured during the Côte d’Ivoire v Egypt game, the score was 1-1. Within 10 minutes his replacement had conceded two and the game was lost.  In the quarter-final he was three times the hero!  In the game he pulled off a wonderful save from Samuel Eto'o.  In the penalty shoot-out, he was fully involved.

It was an amazing penalty shoot-out which Côte d'Ivoire won 12-11.  All eleven players in each team scored!  Even Jean-Jacques calmly slotted home his penalty at 10-11.  Earlier he had saved a penalty only for the ref to rule that he had moved off his line - a harsh call.  Eto'o took the first penalty second time round but with Jean-Jacques not committing himself, Eto'o put it over the bar.  Then Drogba scored the winner.

Like all football tournaments the 25th Africa Cup of Nations has had its surprises. Who would expected Guinea to win all three games? Or South Africa to lose all three without conceding a goal?
World Cup qualifiers Togo, Angola and Ghana have been sent packing. Togo lost all three games. OK, Angola and Ghana only went out on goal difference but each won only one game and Ghana went out by losing to Zimbabwe. It will have done nothing for their confidence leading up to the World Cup. Of the five African countries, which have qualified for the 2006 FIFA World Cup™, only Côte d’Ivoire and Tunisia have done themselves justice.

Nigeria, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire and Togo have enjoyed the services of a chaplain who has been visiting the team and praying with those who wanted to. Attending the Cameroon Togo game with the chaplain of each team was probably the highlight of my time in Egypt!

Here Jean Jacques Tizie talks to Stuart Weir,. “ I have had some disappointments in my career, particularly losing games including some important ones. That has been the big disappointment in my life. I have lost finals which I would have liked to have won. And of course, it is always difficult for the goalkeeper for when the team loses it is always his fault!”

He grew up in a difficult part of his home city, Abidjan. One Sunday he had a live-changing experience: “I walked past a church where they were singing a song. I liked the song so I stopped to listen. The following Sunday I found myself in the same area and as I passed the church they were singing the same song. I went into the church and noticed that people were happy, they were dancing and they were sharing the word of God.

“The preacher seemed to be talking about me. Even though he didn't know me, he was talking about everything that was bothering me. I thought, “there must be a God”. Because the preacher knew about me – as if he had met me – I thought ‘there must be someone greater’. He seemed to be speaking directly to me. When he finished I asked him about it and he said ‘God led me to speak like that just for you’. He encouraged me to keep coming to the church, and that is how I started the Christian life which I have continued until now.

“Everything which I have today is temporary. Fame, money and success in football are things which will not last. The only things that last forever are God and the word of God. When this life is over, there is another life which God has promised to us. That life is much more important. Without Jesus the afterlife is utter despair”.

Jean Jacques may have become a Christian in a church on Sunday but his relationship with God now influences all of his life. “Every day I have Jesus in my life. Every day in my life I have God and He gives me the strength for everything that I do.  I have had a lot of joy in my football career but I have also had lots of problems and challenges."

About five years ago I had an injury, so serious that the doctors said I would not play again. My football career was over. But I prayed to God that I would recover and play again. And as you can see I am still playing and that injury has gone, because of God's intervention and prayer. I want to show people that God exists and is present, even in the world of football”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stuart Weir and Herman Beetge of Kick0ff outside the National Stadium