Adam watches England-Kazakhstan football match in Almaty

England-Kazakhstan football match

Kazakhs are charming, softspoken and rather gentle people and this particularly came out during the England Kazakhstan soccer match. The Kazakh team was gutsy and energetic, fighting to the end and at first the crowd roared with delight at their oh so near goals against the English titans. But they were no match for the machine like English team whose sheer skill – arrogant, almost effortless, inexorable (I was reminded of the murderous bowmen of Agincourt and Crecy) meant there could be only one result. Four Nil. But the crowd showed no resentment. Rather the opposite. They cheered when David Beckham came on and every time Wayne Rooney scored a goal. I think they were just thrilled that such superstars were gracing their pitch. There was no animosity throughout the evening and they all went home with happy smiles and claps on the backs for lone Englishmen like us sitting amongst them. (The 3000 official English fans were meanwhile penned at the furthest end of the pitch out of harm’s way guarded by 60 British policemen flown over for the occasion. To their credit they behaved well and there were no incidents).

Almaty Football Match