Yemenis find unity in football despite bitter Asian Cup loss to Iran

Huddled around a smartphone, a group of Yemeni men cheered on the national football team as the war-torn country battled Iran in its first Asian Cup match.

Totally outclassed, Yemen went in at half time down three goals in Abu Dhabi on Monday night, ending the match on the wrong side of a 5-0 scoreline.

Given the parlous state of football in Yemen, where players have been kidnapped by extremists or gone off to fight in the civil war, just qualifying for the Asian Cup was an astonishing achievement.

As kick-off grew close, the country prepared for the game. In Aden, Sinan Al Rowaini and his neighbours gathered to watch the game on his phone. In a country battered by three years of war, many Yemenis cannot afford the sports networks so they resort to streaming.

“Where is our government?” Mr Al Rowaini asked. “Our national team is taking part in the Asian Cup tournament. It is such a national occasion regardless of whether they win or lose.

“We are really eager to watch their matches and cheer them on. It doesn’t cost anything for the government to erect screens in the streets where we can go to watch and support our team.”

On the small flashing screen, the commentator narrated the game in Spanish.

“I don’t understand what he says,” said Yemen supporter Mansour Abdullah. “But this reminds me of when we were living in peace. We really miss such days when we flocked together to cheer on our national team all together in our street.”

The local league has been suspended and stadiums reduced to rubble, forcing players to work as taxi drivers or in supermarkets to feed their families.

Other Yemen national team players have died among the tens of thousands killed in a conflict exacerbated by famine and disease.

“Iran won the match. I hope it loses all the coming matches in the tournament. We would celebrate then,” said Hamza Mohammed, referring to Tehran’s support for the rebel Houthi group.

“Iran wreaked havoc in our country. They are behind all the troubles and the suffering we have.”

North of Aden, in Houthi-controlled Taez, a crowd cheered for the Yemeni team at the Taez Tourist Club, while others gathered in a hall near the old city’s Al Muthafar mosque where the authorities set up big screens for fans.

“We didn’t expect people to come in such big numbers to watch the match because the city is still besieged by the Houthi militia,” Ayman Al Mekhlafi, head of the Youth and Sport Office, told The National.

His colleague, Mohsen Al Bakri, said he hoped that football could repair what politics had ruined.

“Tonight we saw one Yemeni team with players from all over Yemen play together under the Yemeni flag,” Mr Al Bakri said.

“This is the value of football. Politics disperses and football unifies, that is the truth.”

It is such a national occasion regardless of whether they win or lose SINAN AL ROWAINI Aden resident