1, 2, 3...Viva Algerie!

After a good feed at a place called KO (strange name for a fast food place), we headed straight to the RDS. Kick-off was at 7.45 so, to allow the mixed grill and pilau rice to settle, we decided to walk the whole way. By the time we got there, it was already about five minutes or so into the game.

We were sat right beside the stewards on the left with the Algerian fans. Yayyy!

The tickets I got were for unreserved seats on the South Stand so being late didn't help. We realised that the stewards were still trying to organise the two fans into the assigned sections of the stand but when it came to us two Malaysians, they were a just a bit confused. We were eventually lumped in with the visiting Algerian fans. 


After getting ourselves seats (and being shouted at by dudes with thick French/Arabic accents), I was horrified to find out that my camera had ran out of batteries! Imagine that? The first half went by pretty quickly after that. Other than new boy Paul Green's goal, there wasn't much to the game. Fortunately, that got the crowd going and as neutral as I was, I wanted the visitors to score just to put a smile on my new-found North African buddies' faces!


I eventually found myself batteries for the camera at the break but paid the price as I missed the second goal.

Duff gets taken off after the second goal. He didn't seem a 100% anyway.

The stadium at this stage was already a third less than at the start but was certainly louder with Ireland comfortably in the lead. Obviously I'm not an ardent follower of the Algerian national team but at the rate they were playing on Friday night, they'd surely get their collective behinds walloped by England, Slovenia and the US.


Anyway, here's the rest of the pics from the match...

Kevin Doyle - although a foot shorter than the Algerian defence, caused them a world of pain with the long balls that kept being pumped through.

If not for the Algerian No.5's (Rafik Halliche) good work, they could've been down by a lot more. I aim to find out his name at some stage.

Ireland get a late penalty and naturally, Robbie Keane gets a go at it.

Naturally, you'd expect Robbie to score. Seen here celebrating in only the second shirt he's been in longer than 3 minutes!

What do Algeria and Iron Maiden have in common?

Working where I work has its benefits. No, we don't have Playboy Bunnies running around semi-naked or anything like that. We do however always have free (or discounted) tickets for events up for grabs. The problem is, I'm never fast enough to reply to emails so, I tend to miss out on the more glamorous events. As an example, the last tickets I got were for Iron Maiden a few years ago.

I managed to get these tickets not because I had the fastest fingers in the West but only because no one else in the office had heard about them. Some thought this Iron Maiden concert was just a tribute band because,

Surely, all the original band members would be dead at this stage?

Or, they just weren't too keen on watching ugly steel-working girls from say, Sheffield putting on a show. There were even some who thought that Mydin Mart were hosting an event to celebrate the grand opening of their Dublin store. Yes, those people were definitely disappointed...

So, fast-forward a few years and another non-glamorous event pops into my inbox. The replies were slow as people were equally slow to grasp who Ireland were playing against on Friday night.

Oh yeah, they're the lads that beat Egypt weren't they? We had a few lads driving around Ranelagh that night waving they're flags...So, that's where they're from!

Or

Isn't that where Zidane's from?

No, Zidane's from Marseille but yes, his parents were originally from Algeria.

So, they must have a half-decent team then, eh?

I suppose. Needless to say, I'm now the proud owner of two tickets to watch the Republic of Ireland v. Algeria game tonight. My first proper international game. OK, I must've watched Malaysia play at some stage but seriously? A Malaysia v. Bangladesh game wouldn't actually count now would it?