Oman friendly brings some Middle Eastern flair to the footballing experience

The Germany-Oman friendly had a different energy and sonic aura than audiences of European football might be used to. It was that way for the German players as well — in a good way!

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A report from Sport1 explains:

In addition to the climate, the DFB stars in Oman were also able to get used to the fan chants, which are unusual for European football fans. Instead of a louder and softer background noise, the acoustics resembled a permanent singsong — similar to a muezzin call.

“It reminded me a bit of 2010 with the vuvuzelas. It was unusual,” said German (and Bayern Munich) goalkeeper Manuel Neuer afterwards.

But not in a bad way!

“Of course we don’t know that from Europe, but it didn’t bother us,” winger Jonas Hofmann explained. “On the contrary.”

The home crowd had much to celebrate, too, as they cheered for a team holding their own against the four-time World Champions — and causing more than a few problems with their forays forward. In the end, Oman were extremely unlucky not to snatch a goal of their own. And alas, we were deprived of the scoring celebrations that would have ensued.

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