By Kingsley Kobo
I knew I had thousands of readers around the world, but I never imagined that there would be so many of them around me at the tournament, let alone those who would take time to visit Goal.com.
My journey to and sojourn in Libreville, Gabon, for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations revealed not only how popular Goal.com is, but the recognition that I receive as a writer for the site too.
After a long and arduous journey by road across west Africa’s Atlantic coast to and from Lagos, Nigeria, where I met people who knew me and my work via Goal.com, before stops in Benin, Togo and Ghana, I arrived at Gabon’s embassy with my newly-renewed passport a day prior to the kick off of the tournament.
As you would imagine, the office was jam-packed with Afcon-bound visa seekers, everybody in a tense haste to secure the documentation specially designed for entry into Gabon and Equatorial Guinea for a grace period of 45 days.
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I was impatient as well, and the long queue was aggravating my fretfulness, as officials carefully maintained the suspense, perhaps to sufficiently whet our appetite for the beauty of the tiny central African nation through a display of wall photos depicting breathtaking virgin rain forests, romantic waterfalls and stunning beaches.
“All those with accreditation kindly come forward please,” said one of the officials as I surged forth holding my paper up high.
“Kingsley Kobo of Goal.com?” the clean-shaven gentleman, who grabbed my sheet amongst others, asked and sized me up when I confirmed.
“Follow me,” he said and we both walked through the stuffy passage into an office where four others including a lady were busy encoding information on to their computers.
“Sit down Mr Kobo,” he pointed to a brown leather three-seater sofa. I obeyed with pleasure, enjoying the cooler air.
“Colleagues, guess who this guy is,” he said searching their faces. They all looked up from their screen to my direction, and then grimaced almost simultaneously.
“Kingsley Kobo of Goal.com,” the man presented.
“Oh, nice to meet you,” one said. “I printed your article – Bullet & bombs stop balls from bouncing - for my boss early last year during the crisis here,” another said. “We read you almost everyday,” the youngest confessed.
I could feel my pride and the wide grin begin to develop on my face - almost exaggerated.
In less than an hour I had left the embassy with my visa intact, while those I met earlier were still waiting to fill in their forms.
At the accreditation centre in Libreville, I met another sweet surprise.
“Are you here for your badge?” a pretty Gabonese lady asked, and when I nodded she handed me a pen to scribble my name on a sheet of paper. She smiled and turned to her left to speak to her male colleague.
“Brice, look up please, here is your writer in front of me.” The lanky youth in his late 20's gazed at me and then turned to her.
“Who is this?”
“Kingsley Kobo of Goal.com.”
He rushed forth to offer a hug and dragged me to his desk for the formalities. I felt immediately at home away from home. I saw myself as a little star, who hides behind his laptop speaking to thousands about football.
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At the press centre where some 700 journalists from around the globe converged to cover the three-week event, I met writers, broadcasters, photographers and bloggers from Kenya, Zambia, Cameroon, Egypt, Algeria, South Africa, Germany, England, Austria, Poland, Canada, USA, Jordan, Lebanon and Israel amongst others, who have read or heard of my name on Goal.com.
The commendations were surprising, inspiring and fulfilling. Many were asking me for a souvenir from Goal.com – a cap, pen, T-shirt, plastic bracelets, etc. – I promised I would provide the next time we met.
Even most of the players I spoke to from Cote d’Ivoire, Zambia, Botswana, Mali, Morocco and Gabon said that they regularly visited Goal.com to read about themselves and others in the world of football.
This tournament has made me so proud to be among some 400 reporters around the globe who provide news and analyses for millions of football lovers each day.
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