Joy “Mama Joy” Chauke will once again have the time of her life as she prepares to give support to all African nations at the 2022 Fifa World Cup in Qatar.
Chauke landed in Qatar on Friday ahead of the kick off on Sunday, after she was selected by Fifa alongside the supreme committee to represent Africa at the soccer spectacle.
Thank you God ,, Mamajoy Going to Qatar for the whole Tournament am going to represent all African (Continent)Supporters of football thank you Supreme Commitee working with FIFA for the 1st time in history of Football to arrange Fans from various countries pic.twitter.com/tFIBHN1Xr1
— MamaJoy Chauke (@JoyChauke5) November 17, 2022
Chauke stood out from a group of 20 people across the country who were selected to represent Africa at the tournament. They were chosen by the SA Football Association in response to Fifa’s request.
The Royal AM super fan said her hard work and passion for the game landed her in Qatar.
“It feels good to be chosen, because it shows that my hard work and passion for football is being recognised by Fifa. I am sure you have seen me at the stadium supporting Banyana Banyana, Bafana Bafana, the Proteas and Springboks – I am always colourful and work very hard,” she said.
Mama Joy will also be representing South Africa, despite not qualifying for the tournament.
“I am very disappointed that Bafana Bafana are not there. I feel sad because it feels like I will be supporting other supporters to support their nations.”
Africa is represented by Senegal, Cameroon, Morocco, Tunisia and Ghana, who qualified for the tournament.
“I support Senegal and Brazil; I can’t support Ghana – you know what happened, so my friends there [Ghana] will forgive me,” she said.
The Limpopo-born fan also predicted how far the African teams will go in the competition, and which nation will clinch the ultimate prize.
“For me, I see Senegal finishing in the quarterfinals. The other African teams will never reach that stage of the tournament. Brazil and Argentina will be in the final, I have friends from both countries, but I prefer Brazil to win the World Cup.”
She kicks off her World Cup duties on Monday when the Lions of Teranga open their Group A encounter against the Netherlands at the Al Thumama Stadium.
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