Valencia in Riyadh

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Last Wednesday has witnessed a special occasion for football fans in Saudi Arabia. The Spanish team Valencia, one of Europe’s strongest sides, has visited the country to play a friendly match against the local champions Al-Hilal, in honor of Yousef Al-Thunian, the former captain of Al-Hilal and the national team, who retired two years ago.

I was so excited to go to King Fahad International Stadium in Riyadh to watch the match, and to see some of my favorite football stars closely. With names such as Santiago Canzares, Pablo Aimar, and Mesta, I was afraid that Al-Hilal would not be able to compete with Valencia. However, the Saudi team was good enough to defeat the expectations, and outplayed the Spanish side, winning 2-1.

Of course, Valencia have not played their best until the last 15 minutes, when they scored their only goal, but still, Al-Hilal’s victory was a good accomplishment, at least from a psychological and historical points of view.

The event was almost perfect, but it was disturbed by some Saudi hooligans, who disrupted the beautiful picture when they started throwing half-empty water bottles, 10 minutes before the end of the match. This was not the only annoyance at the match. I don’t know how or why, but every time I go to the stadium, I find myself surrounded by some idiots and psychos who think a football match is a good opportunity to show off their misbehaviors in public.

I hate it that we don’t have a football culture here in Saudi Arabia, and it was very embarrassing to look this way in front of our guests whom we invited to honor our own player. It is a shame that instead of giving foreigners a nice image about our country, we throw bottles at them.

11 thoughts on “Valencia in Riyadh”

  1. they couldn’t hold it much longer it seem , if we ( arab ) do not behave well in our life why would be behave in a football staduim ?

  2. There is a time for everything,
    a season for every activity
    under heaven. A time to be
    born and a time to die. A
    time to plant and a time to
    harvest. A time to kill and
    a time to heal. A time to
    tear down and a time to
    rebuild. A time to cry and
    a time to laugh. A time to
    grieve and a time to dance.
    A time to scatter stones
    and a time to gather stones.
    A time to embrace and a
    time to turn away. A time to
    search and a time to lose.
    A time to keep and a time to
    throw away. A time to tear
    and a time to mend. A time
    to be quiet and a time to
    speak up. A time to love
    and a time to hate. A time
    for war and a time for peace.

    May 2006 be
    your time to laugh,
    embrace & receive
    personal peace,
    Dr. Howdy

  3. i truly wish that the rest of the saudi youth shared your view on this… when u invite someone to your country and then proceed to act like that… can u imagine the impression left of saudis on the valencia team. the sad thing is such acts by stupid people create a negative impression of a country that is hard to erase no matter how nice other people in it may be… — sincerly a riyadhite

  4. I wish, expets would be treated the same way as any other human being (e.g., Saudi), in Saudi Arabia, is treated.

  5. I wish, there could be Cinema halls, here in Saudi Arabia, as they are in any other country of the world including Muslim countires.

  6. ill give it to forzaq. also, what kind of football culture do u want? the one where u get pissed drunk and fall on the field?

  7. Even here in the u.s you have hooligans that act up at all sports events. don’t feel so bad about it because it happens all over the world. Unfortunately when stuff like that happens it takes only a few bad apples to make the rest of the bunch look really bad.

  8. Even here in the u.s.?
    like is the most peacefull place in the world.
    Anyway he is right in one thing.
    i’m from Argentina and if is something that we can have in common with this North American (please note the cardinal specification) and you the arabian boy is that feeling that you describe so well.
    Anyways, i think the solution is to occupate the place with non conflictive people. Let’s fillñ the stadium with our familys.

    Martin

    martinstival@gmail.com

  11. We have similar problem in Italy, and here we have a great football culture, but the idiots are everywhere…
    compliments for the blog, is really nice

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