I have lost count. Sickness first stopped me from writing and after I recovered, laziness pinned me down. After Day 7, I came down with flu. I actually feared it was Covid-19 so after the Nigerian match, I avoided the players and the very next day, made a few calls and they sent medical people to my hotel to take my sample.
I was a bit scared. Some of my colleagues even felt I could have treated myself rather than informing the CAF Medical folks but luckily for me, the result came out negative. I was so relieved that I quickly stood up from bed and joined the rest of the gang for an evening outing at the Rabat Beach. Boy! It was fun.
We took a good number of pictures and enjoyed the scenery and the feeling of the ocean breeze on our skin. We wanted to go on a boat ride but couldn’t manage from that point.
We went to another part of the beach where it felt like it was for core Muslims. We were the only people wearing bikini-like attires so we quickly left there and walked down to another part of the beach where you had a lot of restaurants and bars. (Is it really a bar if they don’t sell alcohol?)
From there, we went on a boat ride, came out and sat down in one of the restaurants but nobody attended to us. We left and went to Oscar hotel to buy pizza but they weren’t open as well so we asked the driver to drop us off at our hotel.
https://twitter.com/JaneONweze/status/1546992010011213826?t=3z2ck9yH8oGmgLEuYHHJbA&s=19
The next day was our visit to the Mohammed VI Football Complex in Rabat. To gain entrance, you must show a negative PCR Covid-19 test so we first had to go for our test at Laboratoire pour le PCR BIOCLINC between 10:30-11:00am. The result (negative of course) came out around 11:50. Yes! It’s called rapid PCR test.
We then proceeded to the Mohammed VI Football Complex where we were received by the director, Mr Hassan Kharbouch, who took us on a tour of the facility. I already shared my experience in the Twiiter thread after that tour (thread is embedded above).
After the tour, Head of CAF security, Dr Christian Emeruwa who facilitated this tour also took us out for a lunch at the Marsa Restaurant – a Spanish restaurant. I found it difficult navigating the menu but the chef helped. 😋 The food was fish and lots of nyamanyama with an imitation of Jollof Rice.
We came home and at night I was hungry again. I soaked garri with all the accessories I have and I could not even finish it till I slept off. I woke up the next day, said my morning prayers and went to wash off the garri plate before showering and some of the peanuts entered the drain and now my sink clogs partially.
I showered and came down for breakfast after which we decided to stroll to the market to buy pepper for another delicacy. We got there and lost ourselves and we bought clothes, jewelries and barely had enough money for the pepper and chicken.
We came back and rushed through the food before heading to the stadium to watch Morroco vs Botswana in the quarter-final. I forgot my accreditation tag in the hotel so I had to call the driver to take me back and on my return, the traffic had built up but I was able to enter the stadium 20 minutes before the match.
I got my SADs (SAD is not an acronym for Sunday Akin Dare o, it is the name for some small tickets that gives access to the Press Conference and/or Mixed Zone). I also helped one of the Nigerian journalists, Samuel Ahmadu to sort his Covid-19 test issues with my charming smile. We left after the game, came back to the hotel and slept off.
The next day was Nigeria’s game day. We didn’t have much activity in the morning. I came down for breakfast and after that I went to the supermarket to pick a few essentials. I came back and started getting ready for the match. We left Rabat around 14:20 (match was 18:00) for Casablanca. We got to Casablanca, collected our SADs and moved to the media tribune.
As you already know, Nigeria won the match against Cameroon. We came down for Press Conference and mixed zone interactions. After that, we drove back to Rabat. I was so hungry I ordered for Nigerian food on my way back and they delivered before we arrived.
I collected my food, paid and went up to eat my food and after that I went to bed peacefully. I hope my laziness will end with this resurgence.
Janefrances Onyinye Nweze of Solid 100.9FM, Enugu is in Rabat, covering WAFCON 2022
Yeaaaaaah.