Beirut

They did not really have a chance. After all, they went down 1:5 in the first leg. Still they gave their all to get out of the affair respectably in this cup final of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). And it is fair to say that it was a memorable evening in the Al Madina al Riyadiva stadium. Particularly for one interested football spectator from Europe. The players of the Beirut football club Safa wrested a respectable 4:5 from the predominant guests, Muharraq from Bahrain. Just after the break, they were already down hopelessly 1:4; and to make matters worse, one of their players was sent off for complaining. It looked like it was going to be a debacle similar to the first leg. But then the team surpassed all expectations and equalised within 15 minutes. But then just before the end of the match, the hot favourite shot the winning goal.

A great football match. But also a strange one: only 8,000 people came to the final of the AFC Cup. Although the tournament can be compared with the UEFA Cup. The UEFA Cup final is sold out every time and broadcast worldwide. These games, the colleagues from Al Hayat’s sports desk assure, are also followed closely in Lebanon. Particularly the Bundesliga games, because there are some Lebanese players in the German football league, such as Roda Antar, the star midfielder of 1. FC Köln.

However, football in their home country is not taken very seriously. There is a national league. But nearly all the players of the eleven teams are amateurs. Only clubs like Al Ansar Beirut, which is top of the league at the moment, are able to pay some of their players. The others have regular jobs and play football on the side. Regarded with favour, the standard of the Cup finalist Safa can be compared with the German third league, while the opponent from Bahrain could probably stand its ground in the second league. After all, the Muharraq team features a Brazilian (Rico) who shot six goals in the two finals alone. The guests play an excellent back four, and their orchestrated goal celebration meets European standards. Such matches are anything but popular although they are not exactly on offer every day. The spectators did not even have to pay to get in and were equipped with yellow fan shirts by club employees at the entrance. Still no more than 8,000 people came – there is no clearer way of showing your disdain for football in your home country. So the finals virtually turned into a ghost match in the stadium; after all it is about the same size as Frankfurt’s football arena. At least the fans that came gave their all to create a good atmosphere. They even had a drummer to egg on the crowd and a vast selection of chants. One of them could be translated as follows: “Bahrain yalla, never get a balla.”

In tears after defeat

The Beirut stadium only was reopened recently after Israeli bombs had damaged it severely during the war in 2006. I talked about this and football in general to Kamal, the sports editor of Al Hayat. He is about as old as me and told me that German football was the best for him. And then he told me a few old stories, about the 1986 World Cup, for example. “We were in the middle of civil war; there was no water and no electricity for half a year. We organised a generator so we could see the final. We cried when Germany lost against Argentina.” Even after subtracting the 40 percent of this story that he made up to be polite, there still remains a love for football that can only put shame on every spoilt post-war European. They watch a football match in the middle of war, with their city lying in ruins and the constant noise of machine guns around them, and support a foreign national team. That is what real fans are about.