World Cup crazy in Dubai......

My near three week business sojourn to Dubai is now pretty much done and dusted. Just before leaving I took advantage of the ingenious reputation that this city has that puts it at the forefront of innovation and witnessed something quite remarkable.

Dubai is a fascinating melting pot of nationalities and approximately eighty per cent of its inhabitants are of foreign descent. They work hard and play hard. Most are young, thirsty, eager for a good time and passionate about sport. For the past two weeks World Cup fever has engulfed this region and has created a very special buzz.

Dubai has a reputation of excelling in unique events and when it comes to World Cup watching it has spared no expense.

In last week's column I mentioned that Allan Donald is my studio guest as I host programming for Ten Sports. We had earmarked that, come WC time, we would hit the streets, mix it with the locals and seek out the best venue in Dubai to watch the action come opening day.

Our research was thorough because in this region the options are vast and varied. We eventually decided on a beach bar. Barasti is no ordinary beach bar mind you! It has often been voted as one of the best ten beach bars world-wide and it doesn't disappoint. Normally it is a multi bar facility on the sand that offers the choice of indoors (and air conditioning!) or a cold beer under the clear moonlit sky. Surrounding the bars are plasma screens beaming action which always makes it a favourite for the beach attired sport junkies.

We donned the board shorts and crocs and off AD and I went to witness the opening ceremony and the first game. What an experience awaited us.

For the WC, Barasti has pulled out all the stops. They have constructed an extraordinary facility called the Barasti Beach Stadium on the sand, directly adjacent to the water. This structure is in the shape of a giant dome and has been erected for the first time in Dubai to perfectly capture the month of football frenzy.

The idea is to embrace the feel of watching the games in a stadium environment even though you are nine hours flying time from South Africa. The pristine white dome has room for 1 200 football fans inside who will watch all the action unfold on a gigantic high resolution 12 metre by 6 metre screen, complete with massive speakers booming a cacophony of sound.

To cap it all off the venue is complete with multiple bars, exclusive VIP areas and the all important air conditioning, which is essential with temperatures topping the mid 40's.

The atmosphere in the packed beach stadium was absolutely superb. It was standing room only and if you weren't wearing a Bafana Bafana yellow shirt you stood out like ... well ... AD!

The Boys received great support from afar and this was just the beginning....