ABU DHABI // At 9pm this Thursday night, history will be made in the capital as Brazil, the five-times football World Cup winners, play Iran in a friendly match.
The game will be held at Zayed Sports City, not the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium as previously announced. Tickets are already on sale on the Time Out Abu Dhabi website, for Dh70 for the lower tiers of the stadium, Dh130 for the upper tiers and Dh350 for the VIP seats.
The gates will open at 6pm, but the game is expected to kick off at 9pm. "I bought tickets for my entire family," said Reza Handjani, 43, an Iranian who works as an industrial engineer in Dubai. "Five tickets, for my wife and myself and my three children. We are going to drive to Abu Dhabi to watch the game; there is no way we are going to miss it." Part of the excitement is down to the fact that the two sides have never faced each other on the field, Mr Handjani said.
The other part, he said, is for his home country's team to be facing a great team like Brazil. Football giants Daniel Alves, Thiago Silva and Alexandre Pato, as well as Robinho and Adriano, will be included in the 23-man Brazilian team. Kaka, reportedly injured and unable to take part on Brazil's world tour this year, will not be present. It will be the second time the Brazilian team has played in the UAE. In 2005, they beat the UAE side 8-0.
hkhalaf@thenational.ae
