Other than when they were in the 2006 World Cup, I can't say I'd ever really heard of Togo, let alone followed their national team.
I completely underestimated the African country though as they made news recently for a bizarre incident: The Togo team that lost 3-0 to Bahrain in an exhibition last week was "completely fake," the chairman of Togo's interim soccer federation told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
Too often these days, sports are too serious or devoid of fun but it's good to see that Togo don't follow by society's normal rules.
Seiyi Memene said the federation did not know the players who claimed to represent Togo in the match at Bahrain's National Stadium in Riffa last Tuesday.
"We cannot send our players to play friendly matches abroad without the approval of FIFA," Memene told the AP. "The players that took part in the friendly match against Bahrain were completely fake. We have not sent any team of footballers to Bahrain. The players are not known to us."
Nabine Gnonh, chief of staff at Togo's sports ministry, said both the ministry and the federation now have opened an investigation.
"We don't have precise information at this point," Gnonh said. "We haven't received the list of the players who played this match and we still have to check if they were members of the national team."
When I heard about this joke of a story, I was reminded of the apropos saying: the truth is always stranger than fiction. I mean really, could you make this up?
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