Derby match: Al Wahda v Al Jazira

I'm supporting Al Wahda surrounded by a rowdy pack of Al Jazira fans.

It's Monday night and the Al Nahyan stadium (aka the stadium behind the mall), usually only half-filled, is tonight brimming with supporters as these two cross-town rivals, at opposite ends of the standings late in the season, play for bragging rights.

For a couple of months I've had this date circled on my calendar. You may remember, when last I told you about Al Wahda, I was undecided on whether to throw my support behind them or Al Jazira, with their nice gym facilities.

I've suffered greatly for this to'ing and fro'ing. I've been called everything from a glory hound to a traitor. But this was the first time I had to choose between two teams (in my hometown of Toronto, there's just one team for each major sport) and I couldn't pick on a whim.
Yes, there was a period of two or three weeks where I claimed I was supporting Jazira. I had even created a couple of songs for them. But it felt hollow and I realized I was backing them not so much because I was sold on them but to try and create a little bit of office rivalry with my friend, a hard core Al Wahda supporter.

Somewhere over those weeks I realized, as I'd suspected, that my heart was with Al Wahda. I'd seen them play four times to Jazira's one and realizing that my new apartment is in the area known as Al Wahda sealed the deal.

So why am I sitting here in the den of the enemy? A little bit of poor time management is to blame. Who would've known the police would block the entrance to the Al Wahda part of the stadium? It's not the way I imagined I'd be declaring my allegiance but the best I could do was refuse to clap when Jazira, still in with a shot at the league title, had the pressure on Al Wahda, who are near the drop zone.

What a brilliant match it was. Both teams passed the ball around quickly and defence seemed to be an afterthought at times. Jazira lead early, then Al Wahda equalized at the end of the half. A wide-open second half saw Jazira strike the cross bar and have a point blank rebound turned away. The Arabs draped with black scarfs around me groaned.

I occassionally groaned too, every time a player dove or refused to get up after suffering a tackle. I counted six yellow cards in the second half alone and eight golf cart visits.

Al Wahda touched wood from a set-piece as well. Both team's song leaders did their renditions of we will rock you. I sent encouraging text messages to my friend, who had arrived earlier and was sitting in the right section. The brother of a friend who was visiting from the states sat next to me, enjoying the match but really hoping for a goal.

He got his wish in the 91st minute. A beautifully weighted Al Wahda cross found a head. The header across the goal mouth was headed home and the stadium erupted with joy. Except for the men and boys around me, who began filing out the door.

The loss is a set back in Jazira's hopes for a league title this year while it should help keep Al Wahda up for next season, when the Etisalat First Division becomes officially a professional league.

But of course, like any derby match, it was about much more than the standings. For me, it was about declaring my allegiance to the team behind the shopping mall. You can't argue with being able to eat at Fuddrucker's after a match.