Africa was in mourning on January 8, 2010, just two days before the start of the AFCON. As Togo travelled to their home town of Cabinda, the Sparrowhawks came under fire from separatist machine-gun fire. The toll: 3 dead and 9 wounded.
Togo's national team experienced its worst moments before AFCON 2010
As usual, the AFCON 2010 was supposed to be a great party, but it got off to a dramatic start. We didn't expect to see the bullets of terrorists, kicking off the competition in a macabre atmosphere. And it was the Togolese players who were the unfortunate ones. On January 8, 2010, as their goal crossed the province of Cabinda in Angola, the host country of the tournament, nine members of the Togo delegation were wounded and one driver killed in a machine-gun attack. The African Nations Cup was only two days away, casting a shadow over the competition.
Serge Akakpo and Kodjovi Obilalé seriously injured
Instead of a ball, blood was spilled. More seriously affected were defender Serge Akakpo (Vaslui FC/Romania) and goalkeeper Kodjovi Obilalé (GSI Pontivy/France). They will be operated on in a hospital in Cabinda. While Serge Akakpo escaped with his life, Togo goalkeeper Kodjovi Obilalé did not. He was struck down just as his career was taking off. He was never able to play again; suffering a lumbar injury, he lost a leg to the separatists, who killed 3 and wounded 9.
"I've focused on soccer all my life. I did everything I could to become a professional footballer.I went through difficult times, but I stuck it out. Even my mother didn't agree with me taking up the profession, but since it was my passion, I stood up to her. Today, look at the result. In my opinion, there's no other way to describe what happened to me, given the seriousness of the events," lamented the former Togo goalkeeper.
No AFCON, Togo returns home
Coming out of such events doesn't necessarily give you the courage to compete.Especially as the description of the attack is indeed chilling."We were machine-gunned as we left Congo-Brazzaville, we were shot at, we were on our way back to Angola, we took a burst at the front of the bus and we all went down," explained Togo player Thomas Dossevi. We had completed the formalities," said Dossevi earlier. We were supervised by the police. Everything was clean. There was a powerful machine-gun fire. The police fired back. It was like a war. We were shocked. When we got off the bus, we thought "why us?We don't really want to play in the AFCON. We're thinking about our friends and the injured players," continued the Togo player. "We're just thinking about going home," added Togo midfielder Alaixys Romao.
Togo finally made it home, and were drawn in Group B alongside Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana and Burkina Faso.
