Dead heart of Africa comes to Botswana

| Monday July 5, 2010 00:00

Chad national team is popularly known as 'Sao'. Despite being minnows in African football, there is soccer craze in the country.  The Chadians packed the stadium in the capital N'Djamena to the rafters when they held former World Cup campaigners, Togo to a 2-2 draw in their opening 2012 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier last Thursday.

It is reported that though they are not giants in African football, 'Sao' always play with great spirit and determination especially in front of their passionate supporters.

Alongside Botswana, Chad is counted as outsiders in Group 11, which also consists of favourites and former African champions Tunisia, Togo and Malawi. The 'Sao' are the lowest ranked team in the group. Chad are rated 38th in Africa, five places below the Zebras.

On paper, the Zebras should not have any problem in beating their visitors. The fact that Chad managed to come from behind against Togo last Thursday to force a draw means they cannot be under-rated.

Some of the famous players in the history of Chadian football are Nambatingue Tokomon, Abdoulay Karateka and Ndoram Japhet. Chad is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is the fifth largest country in Africa.

It borders Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon and Nigeria to the South West, and Niger to the West. Chad has a population of slightly over 10 million and the main languages are French and Arabic. The ethno-linguistic composition of the population is very diverse.

The three most important groups represent only 50 percent of the total population: Sara (27.7 percent), Sudanese Arabs (12.3 percent), and Mayo-Kebbi (11.5 percent). Muslims are slightly dominant (54 percent), whereas 35 percent of the Chadians are Christians. There is no official religion.

General Idriss Deby Itno is the president of the Central African country, which gained independence on August 11, 1960.  

Due to its distance from the sea and its largely desert climate, the country is sometimes referred to as the 'Dead Heart of Africa'.