Twelve years ago I attended my first, and thus far only, Olympics. The '96 Atlanta Games had the soccer competition spread out to other cities, and so I pre-ordered tickets for the opening men's football match at RFK Stadium in the nation's capital. When I bought my tickets the draw had not been known so the teams were TBA.
It turned out to be Tunisia versus Portugal. The under-23 squads turned out to be the meat of their respective senior teams for each of these two country's in World Cup runs the next ten years. I really like the North African fans, and it was taking place on the weekend when Algeria was rip with civil war. Plus I always liked Esperance and reading African Football at the international periodical section at the Border's at the Water Tower Place in downtown Chicago.
Saturday (PST) saw 24-year-old Oussama Mellouli come out of nowhere to win a gold medal in the 1500m swimming competition. It was Tunisia's first gold ever.
