Taking the crowded subway, packed full of red jerseys, I made it to the stadium, amazed at the electric atmosphere of chanting, singing, whistling and overall commotion that surrounded the massive stadium. Seas of red moved in unison, passing food vendors with noodles and sandwiches, t-shirts and horns, pushing towards the entrance gates. Once inside with my general admission ticket, I actually got a good seat at the start of the second level (out of three levels), just behind the goal. The Malaysian national team was already warming up, but the crowd was anxiously awaiting the visitors. As soon as the first Man U player stepped out onto the field, the entire stadium went crazy. I truly didn't have an appreciation for how popular these guys must be worldwide until seeing how beloved they are among a culture half a world away. Every touch, every moment on the big screen, every little nod to the crowd was cheered so loudly by the crowd. They particularly love Rooney, Giggs, Owen, and the coach, Ferguson. The packed stadium greeted both teams, and we were soon underway. Not expecting much from the inferior Malaysian national team, many people cheered for Man U as they dominated early and took the lead after about 15 minutes. Soon after, they pushed it to 2-0, and held control of the game until right about halftime when Malaysia pulled back a fluke goal on one of their few chances. The crowd went absolutely berserk, as they didn't seem to be expecting much from their national side. Later in the game, a mistake by the backup goalkeeper of Manchester gave away an easy goal to Malaysia, tying it up 2-2 and almost leading to hysteria in the stadium. Though Manchester United was still dominating the game, it was tied, and time was running out. Then, with just 5 minutes to go, Michael Owen finished an easy chance and put United ahead 3-2, the way the game finished. The crowd stayed on their feet after the game for a trophy presentation and a victory lap by the celebrities of Manchester United, pleasing the crowd and being pleasantly surprised that their country held their own against a top club team. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures, as the ticket said cameras were not allowed, and I didn't want to risk having mine confiscated.
Manchester United Comes to Malaysia
While in a random taxi one of my first days in KL, the driver mentioned something about Manchester United, the world's most famous soccer team, to me in very poor English, trying to tell me something important about them. After going back and forth a few times, I confusedly concluded that perhaps a few of the United players happened to be in town and were partying at some upscale club or hotel. Not really knowing what to think, I left the cab, wondering why he was telling me this. Through town, a lot of people were wearing the red or black Man U jerseys, so I figured something was happening. I spoke to a few other locals and figured out the Man U was actually beginning a brief exhibition tour of Asia with a stop in Kuala Lumpur just two days after I arrived. Unfortunately, tickets were already sold out to the 85,000 seat stadium, as the fans here are huge supporters of the English club team. I asked around, though, trying to get an idea if I could just show up at the stadium and buy scalped tickets from someone, if that market even exists in Malaysia. People seemed a bit confused, though I figured I'd try it anyway. I even spoke for 20 minutes with a woman at the information desk at the KLCC in the base of the Petronas Towers who called all around the city trying to help me out, even calling the hotel where the team was staying to see if they had any extra tickets. Then, the day before the game, just before going to bed, I checked online one last time, and there was an announcement that a few more tickets would be released. I found a local outlet and got through a maze of confusing multi-story Asian malls to find a tiny music shop that is an authorized seller. As my luck would have it, many other shops opened, yet the workers of the music store hadn't arrived, and I started to worry that the limited new supply of tickets would be sold out by the time they got in. Fortunately, 45 minutes late, the two workers showed up, and getting tickets turned out to be quite easy. Amazingly, for a ticket that would be something like $100 in the US, I paid $17 on the day of the game, and I was on my way.
Taking the crowded subway, packed full of red jerseys, I made it to the stadium, amazed at the electric atmosphere of chanting, singing, whistling and overall commotion that surrounded the massive stadium. Seas of red moved in unison, passing food vendors with noodles and sandwiches, t-shirts and horns, pushing towards the entrance gates. Once inside with my general admission ticket, I actually got a good seat at the start of the second level (out of three levels), just behind the goal. The Malaysian national team was already warming up, but the crowd was anxiously awaiting the visitors. As soon as the first Man U player stepped out onto the field, the entire stadium went crazy. I truly didn't have an appreciation for how popular these guys must be worldwide until seeing how beloved they are among a culture half a world away. Every touch, every moment on the big screen, every little nod to the crowd was cheered so loudly by the crowd. They particularly love Rooney, Giggs, Owen, and the coach, Ferguson. The packed stadium greeted both teams, and we were soon underway. Not expecting much from the inferior Malaysian national team, many people cheered for Man U as they dominated early and took the lead after about 15 minutes. Soon after, they pushed it to 2-0, and held control of the game until right about halftime when Malaysia pulled back a fluke goal on one of their few chances. The crowd went absolutely berserk, as they didn't seem to be expecting much from their national side. Later in the game, a mistake by the backup goalkeeper of Manchester gave away an easy goal to Malaysia, tying it up 2-2 and almost leading to hysteria in the stadium. Though Manchester United was still dominating the game, it was tied, and time was running out. Then, with just 5 minutes to go, Michael Owen finished an easy chance and put United ahead 3-2, the way the game finished. The crowd stayed on their feet after the game for a trophy presentation and a victory lap by the celebrities of Manchester United, pleasing the crowd and being pleasantly surprised that their country held their own against a top club team. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures, as the ticket said cameras were not allowed, and I didn't want to risk having mine confiscated.
Taking the crowded subway, packed full of red jerseys, I made it to the stadium, amazed at the electric atmosphere of chanting, singing, whistling and overall commotion that surrounded the massive stadium. Seas of red moved in unison, passing food vendors with noodles and sandwiches, t-shirts and horns, pushing towards the entrance gates. Once inside with my general admission ticket, I actually got a good seat at the start of the second level (out of three levels), just behind the goal. The Malaysian national team was already warming up, but the crowd was anxiously awaiting the visitors. As soon as the first Man U player stepped out onto the field, the entire stadium went crazy. I truly didn't have an appreciation for how popular these guys must be worldwide until seeing how beloved they are among a culture half a world away. Every touch, every moment on the big screen, every little nod to the crowd was cheered so loudly by the crowd. They particularly love Rooney, Giggs, Owen, and the coach, Ferguson. The packed stadium greeted both teams, and we were soon underway. Not expecting much from the inferior Malaysian national team, many people cheered for Man U as they dominated early and took the lead after about 15 minutes. Soon after, they pushed it to 2-0, and held control of the game until right about halftime when Malaysia pulled back a fluke goal on one of their few chances. The crowd went absolutely berserk, as they didn't seem to be expecting much from their national side. Later in the game, a mistake by the backup goalkeeper of Manchester gave away an easy goal to Malaysia, tying it up 2-2 and almost leading to hysteria in the stadium. Though Manchester United was still dominating the game, it was tied, and time was running out. Then, with just 5 minutes to go, Michael Owen finished an easy chance and put United ahead 3-2, the way the game finished. The crowd stayed on their feet after the game for a trophy presentation and a victory lap by the celebrities of Manchester United, pleasing the crowd and being pleasantly surprised that their country held their own against a top club team. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures, as the ticket said cameras were not allowed, and I didn't want to risk having mine confiscated.
0 comments:
Post a Comment