I was able to attend my first football match in Egypt a little over a week ago. It was on a Thursday night and I went with a friend to meet up with another teacher whose husband plays for the Arab Contractors, one of the local teams. They were playing against the African Champions, Al Ahly, another local club. Unfortunately, Al Ahly is the biggest club in Cairo and probably Africa, with a huge following. So what was supposed to be a home game for Arab Contractors, turned out to be a road game in their own stadium.
The Ahly fans packed what little areas of the stadium we could sit in. The military was all over the stadium, fully equipped with their riot gear, just in case things got out of hand, which was truly an interesting sight.
We were able to sit in the section reserved for family members of the home team and the seats were great. We had an amazing view of the pitch. The only drawback was that the four of us were probably the only people in our section cheering for the home team.
Sadly Ahly won the game 5-1. While that seems like a beating, they didn't earn most of their goals. There was a poor PK call, a handball before a goal and a bit of luck all in Al Ahly's favor (and when you're the champs, you get those types of calls).
We had to sprint out of the stadium before the game was over so that we could avoid any potential problems with Ahly fans or the military, who aren't the best folks to run into late at night.
The Ahly fans packed what little areas of the stadium we could sit in. The military was all over the stadium, fully equipped with their riot gear, just in case things got out of hand, which was truly an interesting sight.
We were able to sit in the section reserved for family members of the home team and the seats were great. We had an amazing view of the pitch. The only drawback was that the four of us were probably the only people in our section cheering for the home team.
Sadly Ahly won the game 5-1. While that seems like a beating, they didn't earn most of their goals. There was a poor PK call, a handball before a goal and a bit of luck all in Al Ahly's favor (and when you're the champs, you get those types of calls).
We had to sprint out of the stadium before the game was over so that we could avoid any potential problems with Ahly fans or the military, who aren't the best folks to run into late at night.
1 comment:
I'm glad you had fun and didn't run into and problems. Those chairs look pretty comfy. Have fun.
AML
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