Africa's fiercest football derbies [Sport]

Great football derbies are not only found in Europe and the Americas. The African continent is also the home of fabulous football rivalries. The derby day is special, and the match is not only about winning three points, but it is more about glory, pride and supremacy.

In this segment, we explored some of the greatest derbies in the continent in club football.

We start off from down south, in South Africa where theres the Soweto Derby which is a clash between Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs. The Soweto derby is less than 40 years old – with the first game played back in 1970 – but the intensity and passion shown by the team’s supporters makes this one of the biggest derbies in the world, as True Africa writes.

In Tanzania, there’s the Dar er salaam derby. This derby is without doubt, the biggest in East Africa. Millions of football fans from Uganda, Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya and all over the world eagerly anticipate the meeting between two of Tanzania’s biggest teams, Young Africans S.C. (known as Yanga) and Simba S.C. The two teams share the great national stadium, Benjamin Mkapa, a modern, 60,000-seat sporting venue that meets FIFA’s standards, as Africa.com says.

The Nairobi Derby, in the capital of Kenya, also known as the Mashemeji Derby, can be described as the oldest rivalry in the history of football in the country. Lovers of the two teams always see each other as arch-rivals in a fascinating “football war,” that is in addition to being a sporting competition, it is also a social and political rivalry. Each derby is a feast, a holiday, a special day in Nairobi from dawn to dusk. Disguised supporters are everywhere in Nairobi – wandering, singing and dancing all day long in all parts of the Kenyan capital.

In DRC we have the TP Mazembe vs FC Lupopo clash. It is Lubumbashi’s most popular sporting event, an event that unites all generations and all social classes. Originally, the FC Lupopo is a team of railway workers of the SNCC (National Railway Company of the Congo), and the TP Mazembe is a team of the popular layers of the municipality Kamalondo.

In the Ivory Coast we have the the Abidjan Derby, which opposes two of the most powerful clubs in the history of football in Ivory Coast and Africa. Both teams, Asec Mimosas and Africa Sport, are based in the country’s capital, Abidjan. According to Africa.com, Asec Mimosas football academy has produced some of the country’s best talents such as Kolo Toure, Didier Drogba, and Gervinho among others.

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