So, Romit, Bharath, Jason and I went and watched the Germany v/s U.A.E. friendly at Al Nasr Stadium in Dubai yesterday. I had forgotten my spectacles so the faces weren’t as clear as they should have been, but it was still a worthwhile experience. U.A.E were pretty much massacred by Germany and a pathetic Gomez who somehow, despite his shizer-ness, still managed to manifiest four less-that magical goals. Here’s the thing about the U.A.E. team – they are real good going up front but somehow cannot get their act together in defense despite their relatively large sizes. Oh deceptive physiques, I tell you! The problem is, I think, that the entire of the U.A.E. population (that plays football) just seems to want to attack all the time. The defence gets forgotten somewhere amidst that desire for glory.

Anyway, that was NOT what made the night. The game got over and we were ready to tag along towards the exit, when we witnessed a true spectacle of sorts. First, right in front of us, this brother jumped over the nine-feet-high fence-like barrier right on to field and trotted on towards the players and the officials who were busy greeting each other. No security in sight. A minute later, three little dudes, one with a fake-afro-like wig, jumped over on to the pitch from the other side. They trotted towards the German players and started taking pictures with them. No security in sight. They then started walking away, pleased with their achievements, when an epiphany struck the afro-dude. He turned around and starting running towards the German players again. Still, no security in sight. This afro-dude, somehow, managed to get this random German player’s jersey to his sheer delight and to our amusement. Then, one of the other two dudes who was with this afro-guy, realized that he could/should do the same. So, he turned around and started running towards Schwinesteiger asking him for his jersey. Still, no security action (busy chattering away). Schwiney refused to give the kid a jersey, so the kid asked for a picture with him instead. Finally, the security officers realized that this dude was not supposed to be there. So, they started making their way towards him, slowly and steadily, to my genuine surprise. This kid, then had the balls to actually ask one of the officers to take a picture for him with Schwiney. At this instant, I was just too amused to react and kept watching in awe. I wish I could tell you that the security officer took the picture for the dude and gave him a big hug, but that, obviously, would have been too good to be true. The police officers finally escorted the dude away and the weird saga ended. We were amused no doubt with the whole thing. That friggin’ afro-dude got his sweaty smelly German jersey and put it on instantly to our mediocre disgust. People are fascinating.

So, on a night when the Germans in Dubai had the Schwine Flu and Germany kiled the U.A.E. in a game of football (soccer), a fellow audience member could have quite easily jumped over the fence and killed a German player if he/she wanted to. Security issues, I tell you, made the night for us.

P.S. The internship at Dubai Sports City has begun and work’s kinda intense already. It feels good to be useful for free…as off now. 🙂

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