The Game: Azkals VS Azraq

I got my ticket the day before the big game. You can choose from 1KD(155Php) to 5KD (780Php). Since we lack the necessary funds (ahem) to get the best seat, we opted for the cheapest ticket but ended up with the 2KD (310Php) instead since the local guy who was selling the ticket said that the 1KD were already sold out, mostly by Filipinos. That of course wasn't a surprise.

Ticket for the Azkals vs Azraq game. It's obviously in Arabic so I dunno what it says.

 The day of the big game was a bit of a shocker, since I've never seen thousands of Filipinos here in Kuwait in one place. My Dad, my cousin and their friends who've been here for years said that it was the first time in 2007 that a massive crowd of Filipinos cared to watch any kind of event. Obviously everyone was excited to see how the game would be played, minus the fact that a lot of girls (and gays) were cheering for their favorite Azkal team members.

The local police on standby

What do you think?

The game started around 7:30 PM where the temperature was around 41-43 degrees celsius but that didn't stop everyone from watching the game. Football (or soccer in British term) is a foreign game to the Filipino crowd so more than half of everyone that I talked to about who they'd think would win pointed to the Azraq, Kuwait's National Football team since the game is as infamously popular here as boxing or basketball in PI.

Parade of the Players at the start of the game

The massive crowd. The local news said more than 60% were Filipinos. Can you imagine that?

It lasted for more than 3 hours. Unfortunately the Azkals lost to Azraq in a game of 0:2. Also that was a sad fact, at least the players did their best to show what they can do against an international seasoned team.

Philippine Azkals Vs Kuwait Al-Azraq

After a 5-1 aggregate score between the Philippine Azkals VS the Sri Lankan Brave Reds, the Philippine national football team's next set of games will be against Kuwait's Al Azraq for the continuance of the World Cup qualifiers. The first leg will be on July 23, 2011 at Hawally, Kuwait and the second match will be on July 28, 2011 at the Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila, Philippines.

This game that the Azkals won against the Brave Reds was the first time the team technically took a step closer to qualify for the football World Cup. But as they grow closer to their goal of playing in Brasil for the 2014 games, the Azkals' challenge seemed to be getting more complicated as days go by. This time, they have to face one of the strongest football teams of the Middle East - the Kuwait Al-Azraq.

Both teams have a FIFA rank of more than #100 with the Azkals in #159 and Al-Azraq in #102. Now even if the Azkals would ultimately look like underdogs in this upcoming match, they might as well try to do their best to beat out their opponent or else it's just another shameful addition to their long history of failed attempts to qualify for the World Cup and a huge disappointed to the million of fans that were supporting them.

As an Azkal supporter, this is just too thrilling to watch. So definitely I'll be in Hawally to see the match even if it's on a Saturday. Hopefully the game will be set after 3 PM!

Go Azkals!

 
To watch the game check this info:
When: Saturday, July 23
Time: 7:00pm - 10:00pm
Where: Mohammad Al Hamad Stadium, Qadsia, Kuwait
Tickets: Available at the entrance or at the Kuwait Football Association Hedquarters in Adiliya between Kazma (former FILBACK gym) & Adiliya Jamiya (1KD, 2KD, 3KD)