Oman 1 - 2 Japan
At 2 rial (£3) a ticket and a surprise long weekend off work, going to the game was an easy and, in hindsight, great decision.
After work I met Hannah and Lyndsey, who has been visiting for a few days, and we took a taxi to the stadium. After buying a couple of flags and a scarf (not really scarf weather Lyndsey!) we headed into the stadium and found a place to sit. The atmosphere was great, loud booing during Japan's national anthem and a passionate belting out of Oman's. For the opening 20 minutes the energy continued with the crowd constantly singing and chanting, encouraged by a loudspeaker every time things started to subdue. Unfortunately Japan are quite good and scored to dampen the spirits for a large portion of the rest of the game. Oman were playing well and creating lots of chances, hitting the post but generally lacking any real quality in front of goal.
Half time was a welcome break and a chance to get some water. (Absolutely no shelter from the sun for 45 minutes was brutal). I stayed with the seats and bags while Hannah and Lyndsey went to find the refreshments stand. After 5 minutes they returned empty handed and quite unnerved by the experience of being in a raucous crowd of Omanis pushing, shoving and groping their way to the front of the queue. Maybe Hannah will elaborate more on this but I'll leave it at that. Anyway, I set off to try my luck and saw a mass brawl/queue and began fighting my way to the front, at which point we were 'water is finished'. The crowd ran off in the direction of the next stand, I headed back to the seats, empty handed.
So we sat, waterless, through the second half and thankfully Oman leveled with a freekick that sent the crowd into wild celebrations. Usually, in English football at least, this dies down after a couple of minutes. In Oman this apparently continues until there's a reason to stop. So we danced and sang and waved our flags, barely noticing that the game was still on until Japan spoiled the party by getting an 89th minute winner and the wild celebrations around the stadium came to an abrupt end unless you were sitting in the tiny section allocated to Japan. We left to beat the crowds and got a taxi home. Unlucky Oman.
