Hi all
A new post after
the victory of Spain in the European championship last Sunday, to tell you that
as strange as it appears, Mongolian are really crazy about soccer.
Strange, because
it is certainly not even close from one of their traditional sport. But there is
now an amateur national championship, and a national team active since 1998. There level is relatively low (only 9 victories in the history), but players can only train during non-freezong months (4 months a year). A new indoor stadium in Ulaanbaatar could make things better.
Strange also because
at traditional soccer match time in Europe (9 p.m) it is 3 a.m in Ulaanbaatar.
American sports (including NBA play-offs) are not very popular in Europe
because of this jetlag, but it does not discourage Mongolian with soccer.
Everywhere in town
where settled some outdoor terrace to watch the match. The usual closing time
for bars (12 am) was extended specially for the Euro, and you could see many
people with jerseys supporting strongly a team (well, mostly Cristiano Ronaldo actually).
But these fans
were not lucky, as the 2 last games Germany-Italy and Spain-Italy were held on “election
day”, and on the 1st of the month, 2 days when alcohol sell was
forbidden.
Most of the
places close for the “election day” match…or rather not completely. We arrived
with 2 German friends to a place which was completely closed. A guy was waiting
nearby and ask us what we wanted. After explaining we were coming for soccer,
he called his friends through talkie and made us get in through the rear door.
Inside, almost 100 people were watching the match, and drinking beers despite
the interdiction.
For the final,
the city placed a giant screen where several hundreds of people (at 3 in the
morning) meet up to watch the last match.
The Tour de
France is the 3rd most broadcasted event after the Olympics and the Football
world-cup, but this I could not find on Mongol TV. Let’s not ask too much!
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