Asia Tour Insider - Day Two

More of Arsenal's 11 million Facebook fans come from Indonesia than any other country in the world - nearly 1.5 million in all.

That's virtually twice as many as the next biggest following, the UK. So it's not hard to find Gunners fans on the streets of Jakarta, but we met someone today who is surely unique, even in this Arsenal-obsessed city. His name is Arsenal. That's his first name. The name given to him by his parents and printed on his birth certificate.

He wasn't named after the football club, but arsenal with a small a (his father was evidently a fan of munitions factories). Once he realised he shared his name with a football club though, he believed it was his destiny "to become a Gooner".

Arsenal was just one of the thousands of fans who attended the 88,000-capacity Gelora Bung Karno Stadium to watch his namesakes train on Saturday evening.

The supporters cheered every touch as Arsène Wenger's men continued their preparations for Sunday night's match against the Indonesia Dream Team, to be held at the same stadium.

The torrential rain that had fallen steadily all day in the Indonesian capital failed to dampen the enthusiasm of the crowd, and they were treated to a competitive training match, in which Jack Wilshere, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Olivier Giroud all found the net.

It was the first time the players had kicked a ball since landing in Asia. Earlier in the day the whole squad attended a host of different commercial and fan events, in the team hotel and around the city.

Split into small groups, the players met supporters at a fan party, coached at an Emirates Soccer School, answered questions at a pre-match carnival, watched a Nike Chance training session and took part in a traditional 'breaking fast' ceremony for Save the Children.

All in all it was a busy and fulfilling first full day in Jakarta. Though as one fan will tell you, 'Arsenal' has been at home in Indonesia for a long time.