Fans’ hopes dashed as Real Madrid training turns private
The lush green pitches of New York University Abu Dhabi are typically the scene of collegiate team training sessions and casual interschool games.
But last night they played host to the biggest team in the world as Read Madrid prepared to take on the UAE’s own Al Jazira in the Fifa Club World Cup tonight.
A few dozen fans gathered outside the stadium hoping to glimpse the team as they entered the stadium.
Many had expected that the first 15 minutes of training would be open to the public, as it had been the day before, although it was not to be.
The first fan to show up was Azzam Al Bayed, a Year 11 pupil from Dubai who had been dropped off by his parents.
Azzam was early enough to see the buses arrive at the stadium and disappear behind black barriers.
His sweatshirt read “Hope”, a sentiment soon dashed as a security guard told him to back away from the gates.
“I came all the way. This is the heartbreaker, when they tell you it’s public, and it’s private,” the 17-year-old said.
Azzam, who likes to play street football, had come to fulfil his dream of having a photograph with his hero, Cristiano Ronaldo.
“You know, in Palestine we have football and this stuff but we don’t have players like these. Our Palestinian players are not like these players because they have work to do other than football.”
As players filed off the bus, 11-year-old Ahmed Bedair peeked under the barriers but saw nothing.
Ahmed had come with his 13-year-old brother, Ammar, and father, Yasser.
“We tried to come here to see the training,” said Ahmed, who wore a Real Madrid jersey.
“We didn’t know it was closed.”
Selma Hassan and her family had driven all the way from Sharjah.
Ms Hassan, her husband, Hisham, and her sons, fouryear-old Faris and seven-yearold Ahmed, listened to the sound of balls being kicked as they walked the stadium’s perimeter.
“To be honest, I wasn’t much a fan of football,” Ms Hassan said. “When I married him, I got it. Now I know every team and every coach because of him.”
The Sudanese family planned to make the two-and-a-half hour drive again today for the match itself.
It is the first time a UAE side have reached the semi finals of the Club World Cup. Real Madrid are the current champions. They will face off today at Zayed Sports City.
While Al Jazira are the local team, Real Madrid are clearly the local favourites.
Even the Abu Dhabians gathered at the NYUAD campus supported local clubs like Al Wahda and Al Ain, but not Al Jazira.
Mona Al Hameli, a Barcelona fan, had come to support her sister Fatema.
“I’ve supported them since 2002, since I was eight years old,” said Fatema, an aerospace engineer who played football on the Khalifa University team.
“I would wait for two or three hours. You know, these players are the new legends, although maybe our grandfathers would not agree with us.”
Throughout the training, fans climbed barriers to peer over the fence at the Spanish team.
For those lucky enough to get a glimpse, there was not much to see.
“We only saw their backs,” said Sandy Ramsis, a 10-yearold from Egypt who had come with her father and sister Moreen, 12. She and her sister are avid fans.
“They make amazing goals that are impossible.”
As time passed, Azzam hatched a plan B.
“Someone told me the hotel where they are staying.”
You know, in Palestine we have football but we don’t have players like these … because they have work to do other than football AZZAM AL BAYED Year 11 pupil