Saturday
rolled round and along with it, Wuhan Zall’s first home game after being
promoted to the Chinese Super League. I’d heard from all and sundry that the
Wuhan fans are passionate about their football and this was one of the biggest
reasons I wanted to see the game. A 3:35pm kick-off (not sure what the logic is
there) afforded me the chance of a lazy morning, and at midday I was calling my
friend to double-check that we were still on for the game. His initial hesitation
on the phone was soon explained by a trip outside – it was absolutely pouring.
The plans being set though, I was soon on the Metro and headed over to his for
a couple of pre-match beers. Another friend joined us and we got on our way in
high spirits - spirits that were quickly dampened standing in the downpour
waiting for a taxi…brilliant. Enough time having elapsed for us to become fully
saturated and correspondingly miserable a free taxi finally rolled round and we
were once again on our way.
Coming from Hankou it was a 40-minute journey
to the stadium in Zhuankou, which with the ever-worsening weather was not the
attractive proposition it had been the day before. Upon getting out of the taxi
we could hear the roars emanating from the stadium - we had got the time and
the day right at least. Buying tickets on the door was pretty easy and at 60RMB
relatively cheap. Somewhat frustratingly we were not allowed to bring bottled
drinks into the stadium, though with drinks on sale inside, this was not a big
problem. With a 60,000 all-seated capacity the stadium is fairly large, and is
actually quite modern. The stadium also doubles as an athletics stadium and
thus the fans are not that close to the pitch however this did not dull the
atmosphere at all. The stadium was probably less than half full, though this
was still enough to fill it with sound. Every attack was greeted with raucous
cries, whilst every opposition free-kick was booed and heckled. The atmosphere
was not hostile though, and I never felt uncomfortable. It has to be said the
standard of football wasn’t the best (Wuhan’s premier striker is a poor man’s
Emile Heskey at best) though the fans certainly make an occasion out of it. At
half-time the match was still deadlocked at 0-0 so we took the opportunity to
grab a beer. Only after fruitlessly walking around the grounds for a while did
it become apparent that only soft drinks were on sale within the stadium.
Straight red.
Recently the
Chinese Super League has been caught up in a refereeing scandal with
allegations of bribery and match-fixing, and watching the second-half it was
not difficult to see how this would come up. After clearly being fouled in the
area, instead of being given a penalty the opposition player was booked for
diving, then booked a second time and sent off for dissent – needless to say
the home fans absolutely loved it. Sadly though, Wuhan soon went 1-0 down, and
the security guards’ attempts to prevent bottles being brought into the stadium
were soon explained as a hail of bottles rained down from the stands.
Ultimately one goal was enough, and Wuhan lost their first game of the season.
There was reason for hope though, after all this Beijing Guoan side finished
second in the league last season, and for large periods of the game Wuhan had
been the better team. The next few months told a different story however with
Wuhan’s current record standing at 8 games played, 2 draws and 6 losses –
better enjoy this season in the top tier while it lasts…
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