World Cup in London: Algeria

I went to watch Algeria -v- South Korea last night, with Algerian fans in Cricklewood.

I've been here before - in 2009 - when I watched a World Cup qualifying match. It was so good then, I knew I'd come back.

To run out an old football cliché, it was a game of two halves.

I spent the first half in a quiet café; the second half in a more excited café - with drums and tambourines

It's all blokes here (except for the one woman working in the cafe). Some are chatting and paying no attention to the match..

In both venues, the fans were loud and lively when Algeria scored, but sat quietly chatting for the rest of the time. Cool for school, they were.

All pretty quiet here except for the two Algerian fans wearing flags who grunt/chant whenever Algeria have a chance at goal.

The Algerian fans are certainly a bit more animated now they're 3-0 up. One man is hitting his plastic bottle on the table to celebrate. Everybody in the café is jumping, jumping.

The Algeria fans have all piled out to tge street for a celebratory fag and flag-wave.

Much like the Colombia match in Elephant and Castle, as I was standing on the street, people passing by add to it all.

- An old Irish guy just wandered past, noticing the score. "This is not over yet," he says sagely. 

 - A happy guy just went by, checked the score, and shouted "oh ho Africa!" while punching the air. 

- Man wearing an Irish soccer shirt passes, oblivious. 

- Algerian fan: "Ireland! Who're you supporting? Algeria?" 

- Irish fan: "Oh yeah, definitely" *thumbs up*

Next up: Bosnia Hercegovina -v- Iran, hopefully with Bosnia fans... if I can find them!

كرة القدم! Football with London's Algerian fans.

I wanted to watch Bosnia & Herzegovina -v- Portugal on Saturday, but finding Bosnian fans proved difficult. Phone calls weren't answered, cafés and restaurants seemed to have shut down.

I called a Bosnian charity shop in Hackney, and spoke to a very excitable man with very broken English which yielded directions to a café showing the match. They went something like, "Go to Kilburn. Or Cricklewood! Get on a bus, 5 or 6 stops, there's a McDonalds, traffic lights, go left and it's 50 or 100 metres. And a Charity shop! No! Willesden!"

They were vague but I did find a Bosnian charity shop near a McDonalds by some traffic lights in Cricklewood. However, nobody there knew anything about football.

All was not lost, though, as right next door - and in two other nearby cafés - were throngs of Algerian fans watching Algeria -v- Egypt. Huzzah!



When I arrived, I thought Algeria had won, such was the excitable cheering and whooping. It turned out the match hadn't even started, they were just very excited. I do like a festive atmosphere.

The bonhomie continued throughout the match with oohs and aahs, flag flying, hands flung to the sky, and all manner of expressive reactions. They sung "Viva Algeria!" with giddy abandon.



World Cup qualification rested on the match's result. I could tell it was an important match as there was a "Special Big Day Menu" on display. When Egypt scored in the last minute to force a further match, the mood changed considerably. They all fell silent straight away, with many limping off quietly home, showing no signs of the violence that seems to have marred the fall out from the actual match.

And, with still no sign of any Bosnians, so did I.