With a record number of five Middle Eastern countries qualifying for the 21st Fifa World Cup tournament (Tunisia, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Iran), fans across the region are feeling the football mania.

Bars and clubs all over the city are showing the matches, and some huge fan zones have popped up, some of which can hold thousands of people. Two of the city’s top cinemas are also showing the action on the big screen, with popcorn and prizes to boot (excuse the pun!).

I, meanwhile, am still working out how I can watch it at home on the TV.

At work today, footie fans begged our IT guy to download a VPN so we could watch England play. Alas it wasn’t to be, so a chap sitting nearby kept us updated with the score as reported by Google. It played out something like this:

“It’s 2-0.”

Me: “Really? Wow!”

I work with mostly males, so I leaned forward towards my female friend opposite me and whispered: “Who are we playing?”

“Panama,” she replied confidently, before changing tack. “But don’t get too excited. It’ll all go wrong now.”

“Another goal! 3-0.”

Me: “No way?”

Before this news could be processed, it was 4-0 – then 5-0, and only half -term. “You’ve got to be kidding!” we cried. It was only the fifth time in World Cup history that a team had scored 5+ goals in the first half of a match. Was Russia fiddling with the news again?

I even started feeling sorry for Panama, who must have been extraordinarily bad.

The final score has to be recorded for prosperity, and what better image to feature than Dubai’s very own tallest score board…