Apart from football, the TotalEnergies African Nations Championship (CHAN) Algeria has been a site of attraction with cultural diversity spanning from language, music and lifestyle.
The 17 teams started this year's competition and fans have taken note of the culture on display especially the language used by the sides participating in the tournament
The Berea of Madagascar have been elegant on the pitch, and stylish off it coupled with their excellent results which have turned heads.
Still in the running for the trophy in what has been a historic debut, screams of: "nanao izany izahay, nandresy izahay!" which translates to "we did it, we won!" Could be heard after the men of coach Romuald Rakotondrabe defeated Mozambique 3-1 in the quarter-final on Saturday.
Just like Madagascar, the home based Teranga Lions of Senegal have returned to the semi-finals of the CHAN after a 14-year absence.
Pape Thiaw's team have shown a lot of heart on the field without forgetting to pride themselves as real ambassadors of the Wolof, a widely spoken first language by 50% of its population.
Two-time CHAN winners DR Congo bowed out of the competition at the group stage, but Otis Ngoma's men left their mark with their stylish football especially in the second and third game even though they failed to score.
Placed in the so-called Group of Death alongside Senegal, Cote D'Ivoire and Uganda in Group B, DR Congo players had to use the Lingala to communicate in matches.
The Lingala is globally known with famous Congolese musicians using the lingua franca to make numerous hits.
Unfortunately, DR Congo did not make the next round of the competition, but they left Algeria having passed on some Lingala to a multitude who were willing learners.
Cote D'Ivoire progressed from Group B as runners-up but eventually fell to hosts Algeria in the quarter-finals.
The country made up of over 27.48 million inhabitants, has approximately 300,000 people abreast with the Guere language.
Coach Soualiho Haidara sometimes screamed out instructions to his charges using Guere.
In all, the rich and diverse African culture has varied from one country to another in the tourney. The culture of each country that participated, was communicated through art, language and songs after their sides won matches.
