Minerva Punjab · Asian Cup - Qualification · Midfielder · #17 · India · 33 yrs
Brutally tough return to tournament awaits, but the stature of opposition feels less important than the fact of being here at allIt was an arrival worth more than half a century of waiting. The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) players strolled into the arrivals hall of George Bush airport on Thursday kitted out in tuxedo suits and leopard-print sashes, channelling La Sape vogue for snappy dress that swept Kinshasa in the 1970s. A throng of local volunteers cheered them through and, in a climate where little can be taken for granted, their welcome to Houston was a genuinely wholesome moment.The DRC’s squad looked appreciative although perhaps they were simply relieved to see new faces. The joy of a first World Cup since 1974, when they competed as Zaire, has been complicated by the Ebola outbreak in their homeland and a 21-day isolation period imposed by the US authorities. The players and staff formed a bubble in Belgium, playing one friendly against Denmark and being forced to cancel a scheduled meeting with Chile in Cádiz. Continue reading...
Houston is a host city but those gathered there for a GOP convention are far more concerned with contentious politics – and an elephantGreg Abbott, the governor of Texas, has just finished a 25-minute address and most of the hits have been played. The radical Democrats must be destroyed in November’s midterms; an Austin-style woke agenda should be avoided at all costs; it is essential the Lone Star State remains the most conservative in the US. He has provided ample fodder for about 5,000 delegates but, as the applause subsides, they have a more weighty subject matter to absorb.There is an elephant in the room. A real live elephant in the form of Paige, who is wearing a white cloak bearing the slogan “Unity drives victory”. It has long been an in-joke at the Texas Republican party convention that, one day, a pachydermal visitor might drop in; the animal has been a symbol of the GOP for 150 years. Now, at the George R Brown Convention Center on Friday afternoon, the fantasy has been made flesh. To intakes of breath, Paige is led up the vast conference hall’s central aisle, taking a break halfway up. The exit is 100 metres away but will have to wait; unfortunately for those who have rushed to marvel at her, it turns out Paige needs to urinate. Continue reading...
