More football, in Ras al-Amoud this time

Yesterday I found more football (It's not too easy to find published schedules. My landlord found these games in the Thursday's sport section of the newspaper.) I was told that there would be a match at the field at Abdel Qader al-Husseini school in Ras al-Amoud in Arab East Jerusalem. All four teams I saw where from Arab neighborhoods in East Jerusalem. I got there late and found Silwan in green playing Mt. of Olives in red. They were adults playing 30 minutes halves. I was told that they usually play 35 minute halves, but today because there was a second match, they shortened up the game. Abu Fadi, the referee, in white, played in the second match. He had two assistant referees who did a good job with offside, I thought. The score ended up with Mt. of Olives winning 1-0. The pitch was not nearly as nice as the artificial turf at al-Bireh, where I watched matches two weeks ago. It looked like it was about 45 meters long by 30 meters wide. The lines were chalk or lime of some kind.

In the second match, Sur Baher, in blue, played Isawiya, in red. I left at halftime when the score was evened up at 1-1. Sur Baher dominated the first half. I talked for a while with some teenage boys who were watching. They had the usual questions about which teams in Europe I support. We talked for a little while about the upcoming match between ManU and Barcelona for the UEFA Champions League title. One of the kids thought that Messi and company would prevail.