Montreal, Lubumbashi Club World Cup and Mazembe

Montreal is quiet and cold, while not many in the city are thinking about soccer, they are probably thinking about Wednesday's Montreal Canadiens game.
On the other hand, Lubumbashi in D.R Congo is probably the happiest and loudest city in Africa at this  moment. This is because TP Mazembe reached the final of the soccer Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi.
Tout-Puissant or Almighty Mazembe is the team that eliminated the American champions Pachuca and the Brazilians Intercional in the Club World  Cup in Abu Dhabi. Many considered them as underdogs because of their history and their performance in the past.  Surprisingly, by Tuesday evening, the Internet was abuzz from stories praising them on renowned websites like ESPN, the Washington Post, CNN and of course CBC.  During the days leading to the Final on the 18th of this month, they will be named by many more.
 This is a great achievement because having lived in Lubumbashi, I know how life must have been for some Mazembe players.   Lubumbashi has experienced some hard times especially under the authoritarian rule of Mobutu Sese Seko. Tribal wars, famine and violence is what many of those players have seen while growing up in the 80s and 90s. Reaching the final of the Champions League on the African and now on the World stage shows that TP Mazembe is really Almighty and can stand any kind of pressure even from the Italian favourites; Internazionale.

poster 10 x (AT) yahoo.ca