Kuwait Diary Wednesday July 20

DUBAI, UAE -- July 20, 2011. There we were at 30,000 feet looking at the stars. No I had not gained the power of flight but was instead seated at the exit row of my Emirates flight bound for Dubai then Kuwait for the away leg of the Philippine Men’s Football National Team.

I never do red eye flights well and I simply wasn’t ready for this.

You see it was around 3pm when I first found out that I was flying out to Kuwait at around twenty minutes after midnight of the morning of July 20. I thought that I was booked for the 21^st and had made plans for the rest of the evening as well as the following day.

But the cabin lights were out save for a ones that marked signs and the hundreds of small “stars” that dotted the ceiling of the plane. It looked as if you were gazing up the stars.

It’s 6,991 nautical miles from Manila to Dubai for a total flight time of 7 hours and 50 minutes. The long flight took us right through Vietnamese airspace to Thailand to India, a part of Oman before touching down at Dubai. 

Most people go here for oil and business. We’ve come here to get our brains fried under the scorching sun and for football.

I’m with Rafa Gacia, older brother of pro basketball coach Caloy Garcia and first cousin of Azkals striker Angel Guirado. For a while there, I thought I was flying out alone. Thank God for small favors coz I do not have to bear this long flight alone.

When I take a long flight abroad, I normally do not sleep for a day so come flight time, I’m plastered and zonked out. by the time I wake up, we’re taxiing up the runway. I had no such luxury this time around and I’m wide awake in a small seat (I am big and the seat barely fits me but I am extremely grateful for the leg room). 

I am extremely excited for this is the first time that I am joining the team outside the country since last December’s Suzuki Cup in Vietnam and Indonesia. I was supposed to join them in Myanmar but I was sick at that time and it was the best that in my condition was unable to travel.

Well, I am not 100% again. It’s a combination of a hectic work load and stress from some quarters at work. I had just come back from Malaysia where I covered the match between Liverpool FC and the Malaysian National Team. I left Kuala Lumpur feeling sick and I am not yet well. But this is something you do not miss. I feel bad about having to miss the pair of exhibition games by a bunch of NBA players against local talent but what can I do?

Before I left Manila, I attended a meeting of the Local Organizing Committee for the Azkals’ home match for July 28. It was the second consecutive match where I’d be Media Officer, a job that is both difficult and gratifying (like most things).

It is not an easy job I assure you. One has to balance being a media person yourself and following the guidelines of FIFA. One also has to make sure that the accreditation is done properly and fairly. Everyone seems to think that they have a right to cover anything. Unfortunately, that is not the case.

I’ve been working closely with some colleagues in the LOC to make sure that this time around, the media matters run smoothly and without a hitch. You cannot comprehend one not knowing whether he has a media ID or not when you’ve been told you are getting one. So this time around, I asked for the full responsibility. If I screw up then it’s on me and not anyone else.

When I was in Malaysia, I only received my media pass three hours before the match. That meant missing the press conference of Liverpool at their hotel and their training session at the Bukit Jalil Stadium. 

I heard complaints about how there were too many bouncers deployed at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium during the July 3 Azkals match with Sri Lanka. But an incident in Malaysia reinforced the notion in me that I’d rather err on the side of caution.

The day before the LFC match with Malaysia, there was a press conference held at the Pavilion in Kuala Lumpur. There were what – two dozen bouncers (maybe more) around the atrium area of the Pavilion. As soon as the LFC players began to leave, the crowd of several thousand that had gathered at the Pavilion moved forward. I was right in front of the stage when I felt the push. The first thing that came to my mind was the LFC tragedy Hillsborough disaster where 96 people were crushed to death. And this being another LFC event…

The bouncers in front of the podium began to push back and the media in front, myself included were getting hurt. “What are you hitting me for,” I hissed at one bouncer. “I am not doing anything and you’re pushing me back. Push the people in the back if you want.”

A fight broke out nearby between a couple of media people who were pushing one another. Luckily, one official from Standard Chartered Bank pulled me up to safety on the dais.

Truthfully, I got scared. I felt my backpack being pulled away and people just fighting for space.

So anyways, during the meeting, we decided to brief the bouncers better and to give the crowd and the media some latitude. After all we want people to enjoy the experience.

We arrived in Dubai right on sked and Rafa and I spent the time walking around and sampling free yogurt from Pinkberry. We aren’t here to spend. We do some people watching and swapping of stories about the national team.

Flight’s delayed by an hour so we’re at a waiting area cooling our heels.