World Cup column: Qatar befuddle their way to opening day embarrassment
If FIFA, Gianni Infantino, Sepp Blatter, Richard Keys, Gary Neville and the nation of Qatar wanted to find a way to prevent people from talking about just how abhorrent a reality it is that the actual, genuine, real-life football World Cup is taking place in the human-rights abusing gulf state, the opening 45 minutes of the very first game between the hosts and Ecuador was an admirable attempt.
Experts, opponents and punters alike seemed to have no clear idea what to make of Felix Sanchez’s Qatari side ahead of the tournament. “Not much as of yet” was the response of Ecuador manager Gustavo Alfaro when asked what he had seen of Qatar since the draw was made.
Winning the Asian Cup in 2019 would lead you to believe that there would surely be at least a semblance of cohesion and some level of clarity in regard to tactical shape or style of play. Sanchez’s squad were called into a four-month training camp earlier this year, providing ample time to refine and tweak that aforementioned shape and style.
And the unfancied hosts always do well at their own tournament right? It took penalty kicks to deny an ageing and uninspiring Russia side a place in the semi-finals at the previous World Cup. South Korea knocked out both Italy and Spain to reach the last four in 2002.
But from the very first whistle on Sunday, Qatar managed to look like a collection of non-football playing individuals who had just been given IFAB rulebook along with a vaguely coherent game plan and been told to work the rest out for themselves.
After an opening ceremony involving camels, K-Pop and Morgan Freeman, Qatari goalkeeper Abdullah al-Sheeb still regularly found ways to look the most out of place sentient being on the field of play.
His decision to flap at an early Pervis Estupinan free-kick not once but twice deserved to be punished by the accurate Enner Valencia header that followed, yet VAR was on hand to temporarily avoid an opening night embarrassment.
The video officials taking several minutes to relay why the goal had been disallowed created enough time for social media conspiracists to determine that Qatar had gone a step further than using this World Cup for political means and had in fact rigged the entire competition in their favour – a grim amalgamation of just a few of modernity’s most asinine elements when trying to watch football.
Al-Sheeb’s blushes were not to be spared though, as it was he who hauled down Valencia to concede the penalty that would set the early direction of the game in narrative-busting stone.
Former West Ham and Everton striker Valencia sent the goalkeeper the wrong way with an impudent effort from 12 yards before heading powerfully into the opposite corner just 15 minutes later, making it look as though there was a genuine possibility he could wrap up the golden boot on opening night.
However, the Ecuador captain took a hefty kick in what remained of the first half and his team-mates appeared to recognise there was little need to overexert themselves in the second.
Ecuador remained superior and conserved their energy, or maybe even decided to excuse the hosts of any further anguish given the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, was sat one seat away from Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman in the Al Bayt stadium.
Qatar has long feared an invasion from its neighbours to the west, and less than two years ago it was subject to a UAE-led, Saudi-backed blockade. The Crown Prince and the Emir are now believed to be pursuing a policy of ‘Gulf solidarity’, but Infantino, perched within backside-smooching distance of both for the duration of Sunday’s game, will no doubt see the defrosting of relations as another great success for the world’s pre-eminent keeper of the peace.
The executive boxes were likely a greater source of entertainment than the second half of the game itself, and this was reflected in the scores of empty seats that became visible long before the final whistle.
There is no shame in becoming the first host nation to lose an opening match of a tournament. It is a decent and principled idea of FIFA’s to take events like the World Cup to places that do not usually get an opportunity to host them. But one of the key arguments in defence of this tournament taking place in Qatar was the appetite for football in the country.
A rapidly emptying stadium at two goals down to what is hardly a behemoth of the international game, with half an hour of football to be played, does not portray a desperation for a more intimate relationship with occasions like this.
Whether these supporters return for Friday’s game against Senegal remains to be seen. They will surely be hoping their team starts to make more sense by then, even if this tournament does not.
