To the football - Al Hilal vs Al Nassr

5 of us went to the local derby at the King Fahd stadium in Riyadh - Al Hilal vs Al Nassr

Here's the ticket - a whole 20 Riyals - £3.50.

Note the ticket states - No guns :-)

It's a fantastic stadium holding 67,000 people. Called locally (by the expats) the Crown of Thorns, official name - the King Fahd Stadium. Not usually the greatest fan of 'running track' stadiums but the wide open space and great roof make it a fantastic venue. I went once before about 8 years ago to see Saudi Arabia vs South Africa. At a guess there was 20-25,000 fans there. The crowd was not segregated but fans created their own sides. We were warmly greeted by the Nassr fans, with many asking us where we came from and why we were supporting Nassr (Al Hilal being the ManU of KSA). Bit strange watching a game of football without a beer though :-(

>> Click here for more info <<

The Nassr fans in yellow on the other side of the pitch had some drums and played and danced constantly through the match.

Play was pretty good, a bit lacking on the finishing, but a good competitive game. Hilal scrored in the 85th minute to claim a 1-0 victory,

Note the most sparkly moment of football but the atmosphere was good, this was in the dying seconds when Al Nassr needed an equaliser.

The winning goal can be found here - >> Winning Goal <<

We'll be off again soon to see another match,