KSA 1 - 0 대한민국
August 21, 2005
I went to the Asian World Cup Qualifier between Saudi Arabia and South Korea the other night in Seoul courtesy of a friend. Very nice gesture, and a good experience. It's always good to see how other football supprters react, but I must say that the South Korean crowd is one of the most biased I have ever experienced!
To be perfectly honest, the match was no great spectacle. And the crowd of about 55000 was noisy, but a different noise to English crowds... this was just noise... not atmosphere, if you know what I mean. But all the same, it was a good night. However, the interesting thing happened before we took our seats on the stair case (since we couldn't find our seats!)
I was originally told that we were watching the big screen - like in the square by the stadium. Plus there was originally just me and two Korean friends, however my other friend arrived in Seoul and I told them, so they knew he was coming also. That made 4. But since we were watching on the big screen we asked a couple of other people to come along too. That is 6.
6 people. 4 tickets.
My Korean friends said it didn't matter, and that we should ask for luck. Ok, I thought... more tickets are available. Hmm, not what they had in mind.
There was to be a diversion, and then a shuffle this way, a duck that way, and finally a hop and a jump into the stadium ticketless.
Sure enough, I was stopped... I diverted to a friend, feigned ignorance.. when she was questioned, I shuffled... when the guard turned, she ducked, and finally we hopped and jumped into the stadium ticketless.
The same again with someone else, and all 6 were in on a 4 ticket purchase. Could this happen anywhere in Europe?
So, in short... I was in Seoul for just over 36 hours when I committed my first felony.
To be perfectly honest, the match was no great spectacle. And the crowd of about 55000 was noisy, but a different noise to English crowds... this was just noise... not atmosphere, if you know what I mean. But all the same, it was a good night. However, the interesting thing happened before we took our seats on the stair case (since we couldn't find our seats!)
I was originally told that we were watching the big screen - like in the square by the stadium. Plus there was originally just me and two Korean friends, however my other friend arrived in Seoul and I told them, so they knew he was coming also. That made 4. But since we were watching on the big screen we asked a couple of other people to come along too. That is 6.
6 people. 4 tickets.
My Korean friends said it didn't matter, and that we should ask for luck. Ok, I thought... more tickets are available. Hmm, not what they had in mind.
There was to be a diversion, and then a shuffle this way, a duck that way, and finally a hop and a jump into the stadium ticketless.
Sure enough, I was stopped... I diverted to a friend, feigned ignorance.. when she was questioned, I shuffled... when the guard turned, she ducked, and finally we hopped and jumped into the stadium ticketless.
The same again with someone else, and all 6 were in on a 4 ticket purchase. Could this happen anywhere in Europe?
So, in short... I was in Seoul for just over 36 hours when I committed my first felony.
