First match of the season

The whole point of starting this blog was to have a way of following my little obsessions. As people who know me will be aware, the largest obsession I have is with football. So, when I found out that one of Team GB's olympic football matches would be at Old Trafford, it was an easy decision to go along.

Now, i'm no Man Utd fan - far from it, but i've always enjoyed going to Old Trafford. It's a wonderful old stadium, which has been expanded and enhanced without losing that feeling of history. There's not a bad view in the ground, and you really get a sense of a true football stadium, not like these soulless new builds being launched all the time (Yes Cardiff and Manchester City - this is directed at you).

The event itself was good - we'd been warned about the increased security before arriving, but I don't think anyone realised just how bad it would be. I got to the ground at 4:30, which was half an hour before the first game kicked off. There were loads of queues opposite the ground, and I waited 45mins for a bag check to be conducted by an officious jobsworth Scouser, in which he placed my bag in a sealed plastic container for me to take into the ground. I then had to put my wallet, keys and mobile in another plastic bag, and hand it to the stewards before entering. I'm all for good security - no-one wants to be blown up after all - but this was pure overkill and utterly pointless. The stewards didn't know what they were looking for (they challenged my bag because it had a corporate logo on, but missed the flick-knife I keep on my key-ring....), and there were no signs directing us where to go.

My ticked entitled me to see two games - the first of which was United Arab Emirates vs Uruguay. UAE looked a trick and skillful side, but ran out of stamina after around an hour. Uruguay, who had the racist cheat Luis Suarez in their side (roundly booed with every touch - well deserved), were dull and formulaic, but ended up winning 2-1.

UAE celebrate Matar's opener

United Arab Emirates 1 ISMAEIL MATAR (23'), Uruguay 2 RAMIREZ Gaston (42'), LODEIRO Nicolas (56')


 The main event was Team GB, captained by Ryan Giggs, against Senegal. 

The teams line up for the national anthems

I'll be the first to admit that I know very little about Senegalese football, but their players seemed to be under the impression that points were awarded for the amount of times you can kick your opponent. Fouls ranged from the niggly to the violent, with one particular one on Neil Taylor being as bad as i've seen in the professional game. Still, it seemed to work for them, and the game ended in a 1-1 draw. Team GB looked poor, and I can't help thinking that the 3 'over 23' players were poorly chosen. The team needed speed and domination, and Giggs, Bellamy & Richards can't provide that any more. In my opinion, we should have looked for a pacy winger (Adam Johnson or Shaun Wright-Phillips) and a clinical striker (Bobby Zamora).

Butland takes a goal kick

Team GB 1 BELLAMY Craig (20'), Senegal 1 KONATE Moussa (82')

Still, despite all this, it was nice to get back to seeing some football again. Roll on 18th August.....