Asian Cup

I drove G to work today and worked from my Lebanese cafe until it was time to collect her. It's been ages since I've been there and the waiter had noticed!

The big thing for the day was going to the Al Maktoum Stadium to watch the Asian Cup first round match between South Korea and the Philippines. The last time I was in this stadium I was 12 years old (I think). It's been that long! It's had a major renovation and has been greatly modernised and now has everything but a scoreboard.

The match was boring interesting enough and the crowd enthusiastic, despite the numbers. I was surprised at how many South Koreans there were! There are approximately a million Filipinos who live and work in the UAE but football isn't something they are associated with, so they didn't fill the 15,000 capacity stadium. The couple sitting next to us said they don't have a football league in the Philippines and the national team is literally their only football team. Incredible.

We enjoyed our experience once we got to our seats. The signage (or lack of) and organisation of getting spectators to their seats left a lot to be desired. Oh well. We'll know for next time. G is game to watch all the matches that are held in this stadium. It really is very close to us.

My main picture is of the grass being freshened up at halftime. The first extra is right at the start; we got to our seats just in time for the kick-off. And I had to include a picture of G sitting in our row. We were in the "Away" section with mainly South Korean supporters. Their team won; 1-0.

It's so different watching a match live. No commentary, no replays, no close-ups.