Why Wembley was a fitting finale

Barcelona's humiliation of Manchester United at Wembley during the Champions League final was just the revenge I had been waiting for.

Dar es Salaam is full of Man U fans and they can be loud, condescending and absolutely abusive.

They knew what they were up against, perhaps the best team on the planet today, but somehow imagined they would snatch that precious victory on home soil.

After all, Man U is very English and there is no better venue than the rebuilt Wembley.

So in the run-up to the match, my local pub, Billionaire Club, in the Mikocheni suburb on the peninsular, which is patronised by lots of flashy, nouveau riche of Dar es Salaam, including a sprinkling of Kenyans and some rather noisy Congolese, had been in an upbeat mood, with the always most visible Man U fan, one Brian, letting it known to all that there would "mbuzi choma for all, including Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool" fans, at his expense, after the Reds walloped Pep Guardiola's Barca.

Acknowledging that the Spanish champs are, indeed, a good team, one of the best in the world, the Man U fanatics, declared that the European Champions League Cup would be theirs at the end of the 90 plus minutes at Wembley.

At the end of the match, Brian, the goat man was in no mood to hang around, and was only too happy to find a friend he quickly drove to some other venue. In the end, I didn't taste even a single goat rib.

Remember, when Arsenal looked like possible winners of this year's English Premier League earlier in the season, as Man U were doing rather badly, conceding several defeats, the wind had been taken out of the Reds' fans' sail.

Then the Arsenal charge crumbled and Man U were back in driving seat, and boy, those of us who love the intricate passing game not associated with the English champs, were being taunted all over the place.

"Arsenal are just boys. They always crack just when things are getting interesting," is the favourite line of a good friend of mine, Mwasha, whose own girlfriend, is, interestingly a diehard fan of Arsenal. Imagine the two riding in the same car always and supporting different teams, but not a harsh word is exchanged between them.

In fact, I have been the beneficiary several times, being showered with cold Kilimanjaros whatever the verdict. When Man U are victorious, Mwasa regales me with drinks and when Arsenal excel, his girlfriend and I have drinks at his expense and bombard him with his favourite Namibian lager.

Just next door to Billionaire, there is this really neat joint, Master's Club. It's high quality and attracts high-end clientele. They have four screens, two of which will be on one match, while the other two relay the other, mute.

Whenever Man U and Arsenal have matches at the same time, the latter's fans who wish to hear the commentary, should try some other venue and they will be lucky to get that treatment.

At Master's it's always Man U live and the other team mute. The same happens at another popular venue in the neighbourhood, Ray's Bar, at the Regency Hotel. This is the real ngome of Man U fanatics.

They include a Ugandan broadcaster, now turned events organiser popularly known as Ssebbo (gentleman), but whose real name is Dennis Busulwa.

I was there for the final in Moscow, when Man U defeated Chelsea and I came out of there almost half deaf and drenched in champagne, though I had been rooting for Chelsea, what with a red-shot Didier Drogba at his peak then.

But my revenge over Man U fans came in England that Saturday. It was for the humiliation I suffered two years ago, when my son, Eric, a fellow Arsenal man, dragged me to Rays Bar, chatted up the barman and we settled down to the pre-match analysis, waiting for another Arsenal classic.

That was until the Ssebbo mob arrived. "What is this you guys are showing here?" one asked. And in a flash it was all Man U and we had to retreat, and find some other venue, ending up at a  place patronised mainly by rowdy mzungus and wallowing in deafening karaoke. But, strangely, it was Arsenal all the way, on all the six screens.

As Man U fans lick their Wembley wounds, Arsenal can now forget a season that was theirs for the taking and they blew it, naively looking for classic goals that never came. Looking forward to the new season!