I covered the UAE Olympic team’s friendly with a group of Hungary kids last night, and the second half was remarkable, to us desert dwellers, for one aspect:

It rained throughout. Sometimes it poured.

A fact to keep in mind:

Most places in the UAE get maybe 2 inches of rain. Per year. And it tends to come in one or two, maybe three, monsoon-like drenchings. They last about 10 minutes … and that’s your rain for the year, in the UAE.

It was to the credit of the Emirati guys, as I noted in my game report for The National, that they seemed to handle the wet field as well as they did. To the tune of a 5-0 victory.

They slipped hardly more than did the Hungarians, and didn’t seem put out by it — even if all the UAE residents on the bench and surrounding the modest “stadium” were thoroughly miserable because of all the moisture.

One of the reasons the Emiratis are camping here, in Austria, in addition to the quiet and the scenery and the fine facilities … is the rain. Sudden and intense — rather like it can be in England, which is where the Olympics will be staged.

When the UAE team gets there, and plays at Manchester and Wembley and Coventry, an inch of rain in an hour won’t seem nearly as exotic as it might have a month ago.