For the Melburnians among my readers, you might think that Lygon Street and Chapel Street are the places to go to see joyous football (soccer) fans and hotted up cars, respectively. Well, the last few days have made me realise that, eager as the rice-boys are back in Aus, they are lame namby-pambies in comparison to the UAE.Last week the UAE won the regional football championship and the fans celebrated in such style that, from here on in, the UAE is my team of choice. The UAE beat Oman to win the Gulf Cup final for the first time. I was in Sharjah on the night and the roads were gridlocked with people driving slowly, hanging out of windows and sunroofs, standing on running boards, all waving flags, ululating and cheering. A couple of days later a victory parade was staged in Dubai and it, and general revellers, clogged up Sheik Zayed Road and Beach Road (and many others). For once no-one was too upset by the traffic - everyone was having such fun.
But here's the thing. When Italy wins a game, you might expect mayhem on Lygon Street, but under no circumstances would you expect to see cars decorated with stars, little stick-on flags, or spray painted slogans and the national colours. That's right, people were spray painting their cars (new ones, that is - Prados and Mercedes, for example) and driving along celebrating. (Sorry for the photo quality, they're third party.) And no, it wasn't some kind of temporary paint...And here's the other thing: everyone was happy and getting into the spirit of it. A major win in Australia is met with a low key beer and perhaps a few sly digs at the poms (or a visibly drunk Prime Minister telling the nation that any boss who fires staff for being late is a bum), while a major win in England quickly degenerates into drunken brawls. A major win in the UAE and it's burn-outs, standing atop moving cars, and severe panel damage. And not a drop of alcohol in sight. So well done to the UAE football team, you have my support.
