During a hot morning of July 2022, I was in the fish market of Nungwi village, Zanzibar. This was when I met Sharif, a local youtuber which goes around the island, covering main events. After talking with him about my work as a photographer, he invited us for a walk around the village to show us around and to visit his house to see the equipment he uses for his vlog. After talking for about an hour, he proposed to us to follow him that afternoon to attend a local football match. He told me that we were going to travel with a Dala Dala, which is a type of local transportation used by locals in Tanzania, together with other fans of the team. We were a bit sceptical, but we decided that this was an experience that we couldn’t miss. Thus, we agreed at that time to meet at the fish market after a few hours in order to go to the football field.
After a few hours, we met again with Sharif and hopped on the dala dala to take a trip to the football field. Everybody in the bus was wearing shirts of the football team, which is called “Step by Step”, the local team of Nungwi Village. During our ride, everybody talked about the big match and how the team has to play in order to get the victory for the village. After approximately one hour, the bus stops in a large improvised parking area, we walked for a few minutes and we entered a large field with dirt and grass. There were no seats, only small benches along the pitch for players and coaches, and some space around the field for the fans that were going to watch the match.
As the players of both teams entered the pitch for warm-ups, I looked at the stadium, which is packed with men and women waiting to see their teams, everybody were anxious about the outcome of this big match. The referees enter the playing field and blow the whistle for the official start of the match. The game started, people were chanting and dancing. A group of people were playing drums and the surrounding fans were dancing ecstatically to their beat. Few opportunities for both teams, passes here and there, but no goals scored.
Halftime, the score was 0-0. In the first half each side was trying it’s best to score a goal. There was a huge noise in the field, as the fans of “Step by Step” rushed to the bench in order to encourage the players to take the victory. After fifteen minutes, some rest and refreshments for the players, the referee whistled again and the second half started. From the first moments of the second hald, “Step by Step” team was dominating. After a few opportunities to score, they penetrated the other’s team defence, a beautifull shot, and goallllll. The striker celebrated the goal, along with the fans and the other team members jumped on him to share the joy. The score was 0-1. After a few moments, and as we were close to the end of the match, possesion were gained and lost but the crowd kept chearing every time, the home team showed no signs of a comeback.
The referee blows the final whistle, the team was joyful went to the fans and they all together cheered for the big win.
We started leaving the ground, along with all other fans and went back to our bus. As we sat back in our seats the other fans slowly came in, smiling about the big victory. The return back to the village started, and the bus vibrated with shouts, cheers and clapping. We reached the village again, which has been "covered" in darkness. Sharif bids us farewell and we went back to our hostel to get some rest and think about all the beautifull things we experienced that day.
A simple lesson taught by a small village in Zanzibar, Tanzania during a football match, what really matters in life is to fight till the last moment, and nothing is impossible
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