Manuel Jose

By Paul Rhys in Africa on January 23rd, 2010
Photo from GALLO/GETTY

"You don't grass on your mates." That's a lesson I learned through the stony glare of a fellow 13-year-old on a day at school I'd rather have forgotten.

Harsh early experiences teach us not to do it again. Unfortunately, one Angolan journalist has only just learned his lesson after an encounter with national team coach Manuel Jose.

For the uninitiated, "grassing" is telling on someone. Pointing the finger. Whistle-blowing. Snitching.

Not in a pointing-out-a-heroin-dealer-to-a-policeman sense. That's citizenship.

It's more when someone you know has been a bit roguish or accidentally put a football through a window. You don't tell the teacher or your dad or anyone else who's been asking questions. That's grassing.

By Paul Rhys in Africa on January 9th, 2010

"Balls not bullets" was the call from Angola's head coach on a day when the future of the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations veered from murky to uncertain, and back again.

Manuel Jose's meaning may be slightly skewed by the journalist's addiction to alliteration - the word he actually used  was "footballs" - but the organisers of this tournament have some brave decisions to make if anything is to be salvaged in sporting terms from Friday's human tragedy.

At least three of Togo's travelling party are reported to have been killed and others wounded in a machine gun attack on their bus in the northern enclave of Cabinda.

When Al Jazeera's team in Luanda arrived at the Angola squad's hotel on Saturday morning, word coming out of the north was that the Togo team would be staying in the contest, despite the trauma and injury to their players.

Angola coach Jose was unequivocal about the way forward.

Al Jazeera Live

What's Hot


Recent Comments

This work is licensed under Creative Commons. Please read our attribution policy.