Trip in South Africa
The anticipation and excitement was palpable…the team was finally boarding a plane heading to South Africa!! After a brief layover in Ethiopia, just long enough to grab a few hours of sleep, we could barely contain ourselves knowing that soon we would reach the soccer promised land!
Trip in Cameroon
Traveling by boat from Calabar, Nigeria on to Cameroon was quite the experience, especially with the captain giving us free roam of the ship! In Douala, we were greeted by Celine, Jean Sebastien’s girlfriend. The team was excited to share their journey through Cameroon with her.
The World Cup was finally [...]
Trip in Nigeria
After exiting Ghana and a brief stop in Benin, we arrived in Lagos, Nigeria. We had heard many a story of the troubles we would surely encounter in this supposedly hostile country. We are happy to report that from what we experienced, nothing could be further from the truth. While there are most likely precautions [...]
Trip in Ghana
Traveling from Assinie, Côte d’Ivoire to Accra, Ghana was an adventure in and of itself, hitchhiking in the early morning, negotiating with an obstinate bush taxi driver, cramming ourselves into a mini-bus with 9 other people and all of our collective luggage, and finally transferring to an extended 15-pass van, practically sitting on top of each other. Quite the up close and personal way to get to know the local people!
Accra was well worth the crowded traveling conditions. During our stay there, we had the pleasure of interviewing Abedi Pele and Stephen Appiah!! These football stars, one retired and one currently playing in the World Cup, provided a clear window into the Ghanaian soccer world.
While exploring Appiah’s boyhood stomping grounds, we were fortunate to meet Bokum Banku, a local boxing star. Sebastien was even brave enough to strap on the gloves and step into the ring with him!
Le Petit Journal de Johannesburg
“Le Petit Journal de Johannesburg“, a great online newspaper for Francophones all around the world, decided to follow our journey! They first wrote an article about our project, then they’ll post all our videos during the World Cup.
Click here to read their article
Trip in Ivory Coast
Our trip in Ivory Coast is now over. After spending time in Ghana and crossing Togo and Benin, we are now in Nigeria for a couple of weeks. But we won’t forget the time spent in Ivory Coast. It was full of adventure, reunions
and some frightening moments. After only a few days in Ivory Coast, we were involved in a car accident while driving to Aboisso to visit Didier Otokoré’s training center. This training center is a new addition to the Ivoirien soccer scene and has great potential. Unfortunately, due to the accident we were unable to make it there. Everyone survived the crash despite the high number of people involved. There is a short video that we were able to put together depicting the incident.
After recovering from the shock of the crash, we met some key people in the local soccer world of Ivory Coast, and we learned that there is a huge gap between the national team and the local teams. A webisode focuses on this ongoing issue and potential solutions to resolve it.
Gagnoa, Drogba’s Region, and Assinie
The Team visited Gagnoa, the region where Didier Drogba comes from, and Assinie, one of the most beautiful places of Ivory Coast
Photos from Ivory Coast
Kids playing football in the street, meeting with the Minister of Culture, training of soccer stars.. Have a look at their Journey in Ivory Coast
Car accident in Ivory Coast
We’re sorry but the webisode this week will not be available today due to a bad car accident that the crew was in. Everyone involved survived the crash and full recoveries are expected. Don’t worry, all members of our crew received only minor scratches. More details and video to follow later…
While [...]
Trip in Morocco
Our journey in Morocco is now over. After 11 days of hard work, and a lot of memories, we left for Cote d’Ivoire where we’ll spend about 10 days.
The time in Morocco was quite intense. We spent most of our time in Casablanca and it’s neighborhoods, where we visited what makes the splendour of this city, including the great Mosque Hassan II, local markets, several beaches and the medina of Casablanca. All of these places were astonishing and we were impressed by the kindness of people and their warm welcome.
Many thank you’s to the Moroccans we met and who befriended us. Through them, we were able to interview some key people in the Moroccan soccer world. The former doctor of the 2 greatest Moroccan clubs was one of them. He made it possible for us to attend the great derby between Raja and WAC. The atmosphere in the stadium was amazing, we could feel the passion for soccer in this wonderful country!! Unfortunately, we, were kicked out of the stadium because we wanted to shoot some footage during the game. We won’t do it again, we swear! Check out our derby experience in our short video, posting on Friday 4/30.
We also had the chance to attend a training at the Raja Club and then to hang out with Raja stars the rest of the day, sharing private moments with them. We’d like to thank all of them for their openness and candor!
One of our other destinations was one of Casablanca’s beaches where we were welcomed into several soccer games with local players. JSB was accepted right away by the kids, and thoroughly enjoyed playing his first game with the kids and the sound of the waves behind him. This too can be seen in a video posted on Wed 4/28.
Finally, after a little over a week in Casablanca, we spent our last week-end in Marrakech where we rested a bit before leaving for the airport of Casablanca and onward to Cote d’Ivoire. A huge thank you and many hugs goes out to our gracious host, Florence Verley, for accomodating us in her beautiful home, Dar Tasmayoun.
Shukran Maroc!!!
Departure
This is it! Today is D-Day! The team is at the airport ready to take off. First destination : Morocco. Let’s wish them Good Luck! We can’t wait to have their first impression!
JSB, Melissa and Nicholas are at the airport awaiting departure….without Eduardo. For unexpected reasons, he is unable to come with them now [...]
Our Story
A soccer fan with a team of 2 film-makers cross for three and one-half months the African continent from Morroco to South Africa, selecting a ‘dream team’ of soccer players from the countries still in contention: Morroco, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, and South Africa. En route the travelers will also visit Togo, Benin, Gabon,Congo and DRC. Their journey takes them through a great variety of societies and cultures; and as they experience each player’s life in his own village, they realize that they have gained far more than they imagined at the start. They will take with them a better understanding of the multiplicity and richness, the struggles and successes, the new friends and opportunities, and most of all, a profound appreciation of all that Africa and its people are.
