Angolan Angst Ahead a’ Alarmed Arabs

OK, first off the bat, apologies to the Iranians for using the term “Arab” to allude to a country that, as everyone knows, is full of Persians. It’s just that I needed a word beginning with “a”, and, well Persians aren’t all that far away from Arabs, in geographic terms - much in the same sense that Koreans aren’t all that far away from the Japanese. Right?

OK, painting myself into various obtuse corners here, but it’s all in good World Cup fun, and the point of this piece is really just to draw attention to the fact that Angola still have a slim hope of making it into the round of 16.

If things go right for Africa, here’s what will have happened, today, at around 5h30 p.m.: Angola will have topped Iran by about five goals to nil, while Portugal will have smacked down Mexico by any number of goals to no number of goals, and Angola will have squeaked through on goal difference.

The Iranians are playing pretty poorly, and Angola have acquitted themselves rather well at the Cup so far, so the first outcome is a definite possibility. Meanwhile, soccer is a game of the unexpected, so look for Portugal to put a spell on their fellow Latins (notice a theme in this post?), and for Africa to cover itself in glory!