Destination: South Africa

Ivory Coast's women supporters, called "The Elephant Mummies" believe that their maternal care will help bring a win to their national side. (Photo by Anjali Nayar) 

ABIDJAN, IVORY COAST - When you drive through the muggy streets of Abidjan, soccer is everywhere.

In the suburbs, the roadside dirt fields are packed with teams, and in the city's shiny business centre, soccer-themed billboards line the streets. They announce variations of: "Celebrating 50 years of emotions with the Elephants [the Elephants is the name of the country's national side]."

Whereas in many African cities I've been hard-pressed to find decent soccer equipment (especially in women's sizes), Abidjan's lofty mega-malls are packed with all the latest flashy gear: multicoloured cleats, goalie gloves, stuff I've never even seen available in Canada.

Stylish Ivorians

Ivorians seem to take more pride in their appearance than people in many other cities I've been to around the continent. The men wear their torn designer jeans a little lower, the women are a splash of colour, Sequins and gold jewellery. Walking around a mall, I got a bit self-conscious of my white t-shirt and no-name cut-off pants.

I made a quiet exit, and flagged down one of the city's ageing orange shared taxis. I piled in with the other passengers.

"Bonjour," they all greeted me. [People are generally very polite on public transport in Abidjan - we Canadians should follow their example].

As the car clunked down the streets of Cocody (the neighbourhood I'm staying in), I asked around if anyone else was headed to the big match of the day between the local sides of Ivory Coast and Togo. Beside me, a young man by the name of Laroce said he was going down the street to a bar to watch the other game - between Manchester and Blackburn.

His lack of support for the national side is because he was tired of being disappointed in the team.

"It's like our team just get on the field and do their little number, but they haven't won a cup in ages," Laroc said.

"Cameroon hasn't won in years either, but at least their players make it look like they want to win," he added.

My conversation with Laroce was cut short [we arrived at his bar], but Laroce did have a point. A lot of people here resent the country's international players because they perform in top clubs in Europe but don't play well for their national side.

Anjali's trip across Africa

Some people are polling for more local players on the national team - and if yesterday's game is any indication, they are good enough for the job: the Ivoirians coasted to a 4-0 win.

Almost more impressive than what happened on the pitch was the activity on the sidelines.

A block of the stadium was filled with Ivory Coast's national support groups. Draped in various orange, white and green outfits, they were a whirl of chants, rhythms and vigorous chorography. I actually think they might have been working harder than the players themselves - at least they were making a lot more noise.

The supporters take their jobs seriously, so seriously they are not even allowed to watch the game, according to one of the group's founders, Emile Ghahoulou.

"We can watch the game at home later on the TV," he said.

Genevieve Dohbi, the president of the all-women's support group "the elephant mummies," told me her clan is preparing an all-new repertoire, including several South African rhythms, in time for the World Cup.

You can check out some of the group's moves in my photo essay of the game.

This afternoon I'm headed to play with one of Ivory Coast's best local prospects for the World Cup team, the team's captain Ali Badra.

As always, you can get more frequent news from my journey if you follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/anjalinayar.

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Canadian journalist Anjali Nayar will travel across Africa by train, bus and foot (and when necessary by plane), and will arrive in South Africa just before the World Cup. Along the way, Anjali will tell the continent's stories through its favourite sport: soccer.

For the trip, Anjali will bring only the essentials on her back (camera, flip video, computer) and in her hand - a soccer ball. Every day, Anjali will play soccer, whether she's on the beaches of Accra or stuck in one of Lagos' impenetrable traffic jams. Sometimes she'll play with children in the sprawling slums and refugee camps, other times she'll play with adults in the rich diplomatic quarters of major cities.

Through her Destination: South Africa blog, Anjali hopes CBCSports.ca readers will discover Africa and what the World Cup and the game of soccer means to the continent.