General

Everyone In Benin Has Ludicrous Orange Toupees

Feb 10, 2010, 10:00 PM UTC

The tiny West African nation of Benin has never reached the World Cup or gotten out of the first round at the African Cup of Nations. They’d only qualified for the 2004 and 2008 editions of that latter tournament. â†µIn fact, they’d never even earned a point. All this makes their latest first round ouster—finishing third in a group with three-time champ Egypt and World Cup regular Nigeria—totally unsurprising. â†µâ†µTotally unsurprising to everyone except Benin’s Apprentice-obsessed football association, that is. Guess what, everyone from the coach to the starting eleven to the third string goalkeeper to the guy who buys the soccer balls? You’re firrrrrrrred: â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥â†µâ‡¥The West African nation of Benin has sacked every member of its international football team. The 23 players and five-man coaching staff were axed despite last month equalling their best-ever result at the Africa Cup of Nations.â†µâ‡¥

â†µâ‡¥ â†µâ†µâ†µThat seems totally reasonable. I bet there’s anâ†µexcellent explanation for this that doesn’t make the country of Benin seem like it’s run by a bunch of insane donkeys…â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥â†µâ‡¥“A decision has been made to dissolve the national team and its technical supervision,” a statement read. “In the decision, taken by members of the executive committee, they took into account the indiscipline, lack of patriotism and lack of team results at the African Nations Cup.â†µâ‡¥

â†µâ‡¥ â†µâ†µâ†µ…but that’s not it. “Those guys just don’t have enough patriotism” is not the excellent explanation that makes the country of Benin seem like it’s run by anything other than insane donkeys. I bet it’s out there somewhere. â†µ

â†µâ†µBenin’s got a couple guys playing in good leagues—France, Germany, the English Championship—and then a bunch domestic mopes that lead to a record like “one point ever at the Cup of Nations”; they are probably not going to be much better when the team consists entirely of those domestic mopes. Ten to one the “fired” players are back to stinking it up for Benin by the time World Cup qualification rolls around, not that it will matter.â†µ

â†µâ†µ(H/T to Unprofessionalâ†µFoul)â†µ

â†µ

This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

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