Rabat out of the hat
It was the Friday night before Christmas. Gaggles of girls clutched bottles of beer and stumbled up the steps at New Cross Gate station. A bloodied man in Shoreditch looked worse than I did at four in the morning. I … Continued
Ticket to Riyadh
I was in trouble deep in the Saudi desert. I was running late for my bus from Al Ula to Madinah. Missing it would mean a thirteen hour wait for the next one. I opened the door of the nearest … Continued
Opposites attract
The Africa Cup of Nations was in Germany. I wore Mali’s famous eagle shirt to Ukraine’s emotional 2-1 win over Slovakia in Düsseldorf. An Irish man spotted my unusual attire in the stadium toilets. “Mali eh.” I was the only … Continued
Animal magic
It had been forty years and two civil wars since Ivory Coast had last hosted the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON). It was instantly clear how much it meant to the country. Félix Houphouët-Boigny International Airport, snappily named after Ivory Coast’s post-independence … Continued
Ivory hosts
Ivory Coast was my third AFCON. Logistically, it was the most difficult. Not a single hotel outside commercial hub Abidjan was listed on booking sites. I used my dubious French, and used up my patience, to eventually secure reservations and found … Continued
In bed with Maradona
“Maradona or Messi?” was a question I was frequently asked in Argentina. It was hard to answer, but Buenos Aires was undeniably the greatest city I had yet to visit. And Argentina was something of an incongruous name on my list … Continued