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Keeping up with Arsenal while in Hanoi, Vietnam

By Jocelyn Taub

HANOI, VIETNAM - JULY 17: Vietnamese Arsenal fans show their support during the international friendly match between Vietnam and Arsenal FC at My Dinh National Stadium on July 17, 2013 in Hanoi, Vietnam. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)
HANOI, VIETNAM - JULY 17: Vietnamese Arsenal fans show their support during the international friendly match between Vietnam and Arsenal FC at My Dinh National Stadium on July 17, 2013 in Hanoi, Vietnam. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images) /
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Even on the other side of the world and in a different time zone the opportunity to watch Arsenal was not a problem

We all know that football fans are hard-core. Arsenal, like most clubs, has a fan base all over the world. The Gunners faithful regularly gather to watch their team play no matter what time of day it is locally, .

Here in New York the time difference means that early kick offs in London happen at 7:30 a.m. local time. While not ideal, it’s certainly a lot better than the 4:30 a.m. start a lot of west coast Gooners have to deal with.

I recently traveled to Vietnam on holiday and realized that I would be in Hanoi when Arsenal hosted Burnley on January 22nd. The 2:15 p.m. London kick off meant a reasonable 9:15 p.m. start in Hanoi. I was determined not to miss the match and set out to find out how and where I could watch it.

I heard about a sports bar named the Puku Café and decided to try to find it. This proved a tough task. Navigating the insane scooter filled streets of Hanoi was difficult as was the layout of the roads. One would start and just as suddenly end and go off in a different direction.

Eventually I found the bar. To my dismay the sign out front advertised an assortment of matches yet did not mention Arsenal.

By the time I got back to my hotel it was already getting close to game time. As luck would have it when I clicked on the TV there was an advertisement for the Arsenal match. It was being broadcast on a Vietnamese sports channel.

The Vietnamese announcers previewed the match beforehand with a lot of enthusiasm. Granted I had no idea what they were saying but it was obvious that they were up for the game.

When Alexis Sanchez scored the game winning penalty in the eighth minute of extra time one of the presenters went absolutely mental. He even came out for the post match analysis wearing an Arsenal scarf.

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All in all it was an enjoyable viewing experience despite being more than 8000 miles away from home.

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