Once again Qatar treated us to another big sports event, this time the Asian Cup Soccer Finals with Australia participating. We made it (or some of us did) to all but one of the matches in which the Socceroos played. It was great to see the stars of Australian soccer in action with some interesting and exciting matches.
The first match the Socceroos played in was vs India. We did not make it to that match but it was an easy victory for Australia, 4-nil.
The second match was vs South Korea. All four of us made it to this game at Al Gharrafa stadium. It was an exciting close match with the score finishing at 1-1. No photos because we forgot the camera :-(
The third match, and the last of the group stage was against Bahrain at Al Sadd stadium - a small venue not far from our house. We all made it to this one as well, a good result for Australia, 1-nil with the Socceroos finishing at the top of Group C and advancing to the quarter finals.
Action on the pitch - Australia vs Bahrain
Rugged up to watch the game - it can get a bit chilly this time of year believe it or not!
Next match was Australia vs Iraq, again at Al Sadd stadium. This game was a bit more daunting for the Aussie team. The Iraq support was EXTREMELY vocal despite a reasonably small crowd (less than 4000). Only David and Johnathan went to this one with Norman (a friend of Johnathan's from the compound) and his dad. Final result was 1-nil to Australia, scoring with 3 minutes to spare in extra time - great match!
Socceroos warm up for the match.
Johnathan and friend, Norman, enjoying the game (and the popcorn).
Next up it was Uzbekistan's turn to face the mighty Australian team in the semi final. A tough match was anticipated but it turned out to be a decisive victory for Australia, 6-nil. David couldn't make it as he was at a work dinner so it was only Johnathan and Monica attending this one. Monica was sending SMS updates on each goal but couldn't keep up towards the end. And that was it, Australia through to the final!!!! Aussie aussie aussie...
Johnathan in front of the Asian Cup flame. In a "small world" story, one of the dads from Nanny Helen's class in Adelaide worked on the design and installation of this one!
So it was off to the final. We already had our tickets from the start of the competition, confident that the Aussies would be there and it paid off! We departed in what we thought was good time, battled the usual Doha traffic chaos and managed to find a car park. On the walk to the stadium, we were stopped by a Bahraini television crew for an interview. We now have our two minutes of fame in Bahrain! We then got to the security check point, it was a bit chaotic. We waited in the family queue until we got close to the front when David was told to go to the men's queue. It was much quicker that way so David waited inside for the rest of the family to arrive. And then the incredible happened. Over half an hour before kick off they started closing the gates, David was not sure if Monica had made it through but she did, just shoving through at the last minute. It was a debacle. There were thousands of people with tickets who were not allowed in. There were some scary stories of crowds crushing with small children there and then the riot police stepping out in a menacing fashion. We were lucky - there were even people who had travelled from Australia and Japan with paid tickets who were not allowed in. We think giving Qatar the World Cup is a mistake... It turns out that in a last minute panic to fill seats for the television cameras, they let in a lot of people without tickets. Then there was a panic that there were too many people. Great idea for a final! We got into the stadium and not surprisingly there were people seated in our seats but in another small world moment they were from David's work so everyone squeezed up to make room.
Getting past the turmoil of getting into the stadium, we enjoyed the match. It was very exciting, with Australia dominating most of the time. Then tragedy, in the second half of extra time - Japan scored. With only about 10 minutes to even the score, Australia tried but to no avail. Japan won (with an amazing goal).
We then decided to leave before the presentation to beat the traffic, and then the next debacle occurred. We were locked in!! No one could leave until after the fireworks so we waited for about 45 minutes while it seemed every Sheikh in the land got their face on TV shaking the hands of the players. It was an impressive fireworks display though until we were enveloped in thick smoke and a shower of ash.
Despite the debacle of the final and the not surprising display that Qatar have a long way to go to be able to hold an event like the world cup, it was a great opportunity to see the Australian soccer team in action, playing so well.
The impressive fire works display at the end...
Nooooooo.....
Perhaps an initiative of the republic movement in Australia, "let's make the Union Jack smaller..."!!
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