Latest update July 25th, 2026 12:30 AM
Jun 25, 2026 Dem Boys Seh, Features / Columnists
(Kaieteur News) – Dem boys seh World Cup fever hit Guyana harder than a mosquito attack after rain. Is one thing to watch football. Is another thing when people start behaving like dem personally qualify for de tournament.
De other night, one man tell dem boys “we” got a difficult match coming up. Dem boys ask he who is “we.” He say, “America, of course.” Dem boys nearly choke pon dem spit. De man never travel further than Rosignol, but suddenly he become an honorary citizen of de United States.
And it get worse.
When de pre-game show start, some people sitting down in front de television from two hours before kick-off. Dem analysing formations, discussing substitutions and talking tactics like dem is assistant coaches. One fella even tell he wife not to disturb him because he had “team business” to attend to.
“Team business?”
De closest he ever come to professional football was chasing a loose ball that roll into a trench.
But de funniest thing happen when de national anthems start.
Dem boys seh one gentleman stand up so fast when de Star-Spangled Banner begin playing that he nearly overturn he chair. He straighten he back, place he hand pon he chest and stare at de television with tears in he eyes. Somebody ask if he had family in America.
“No,” he say.
“Ever visit America?”
“No.”
“Ever see America?”
“Only on YouTube.”
Yet de man salute like de President about to pin a medal pon he chest.
Another fella become a temporary Brazilian. He wearing yellow jersey, talking Spanish he invent himself and shouting “Vamos!” every five minutes. By de next week, de same man gan suddenly discover he long-lost French ancestry.
Dem boys seh World Cup got people changing nationality faster than England changing Prime Ministers. One day dem is Brazilian. Next day dem is Argentine. De following week, dem is English. By de final, some of dem carrying more passports in dem imagination than a diplomat.
But dem boys ain’t complaining. World Cup does bring excitement. Neighbours become friends. Strangers become coaches. Everybody become referees.
Only in Guyana could a man who never leave de village stand at attention for a foreign anthem, argue about offside laws and claim citizenship in three countries all in de same evening.
And that is why dem boys seh football might be de only thing in de world that can make a man become an international citizen without ever needing a visa.
Talk half. Leff half.
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