The World Cup, a diamond crown for Qatar

Al Thumama is another of the fascinating coliseums presented by Qatar for its spectacular World Cup 2022. Stadiums that, in most cases, after the tournament will be dismantled or shrunk to leave them in a capacity commensurate with the small amount of local public. The removed parts will be donated to other institutions. One of them, 974, built with containers, will disappear and the “metal boxes” will return to the port. Others will reduce their capacity to 20,000 seats, according to the modest local league. The reusable facilities will go to universities for their sports fields. There will be no white elephants left. What does the original name 974 mean? Simple, it is the telephone code of Qatar, another way of imposing the country brand universally. Because everything responds to a government project to give visibility to the small emirate and install it as a business center, among other things. And in that master plan, the World Cup is the crown of diamonds.

The Netherlands and Senegal played here, Ecuador’s next two rivals. Like all the other coliseums, it can be reached by metro, which is not underground but on the surface. And it’s free. Public transport is free for visitors, journalists or fans. If the metro station is a bit far from the stadium, there are plenty of buses ready to bring the public closer. There are no taxis in Qatar, that concept does not exist. If transporting passengers through applications, which here are two, Uber and Careem. They do not take more than three minutes to show up and it is not an expensive service, between 7 and 8 dollars for a 15 to 20 minute race. On the other hand, the prices in the stadiums are very high: a machine cappuccino, in a small glass (paper cup), $6.40.

Another of the exaggerations coming from the western press refers to the climate. The German magazine Der Spiegel (we keep the prestigious thing to ourselves) described Qatar as an “oven country”. It is possible that in June-July the heat is very harsh, as they tell us, however at this time it is a tolerable warmth, sometimes tasty. And at night a cool breeze comes from the gulf. Just in case, the stadiums are refrigerated, which ensures an ideal temperature for playing football. In that sense, it is perfect and it is possible that this system of conditioning the climate will prevail in the future. Why risk unbearable cold or heat…?

Holland… or Netherlands

And after all, there was a match. That the Netherlands kept it 2-0. With Justice. He scored two goals. We have heard a thousand times “they were even in everything, the only difference was the goal”. What a difference…! The goal is a merit. It was a better game than the opening game, a lot of effort on both sides, dynamics, back and forth, also little creativity. The Dutch victory is commendable because of how difficult it is to unbalance such a physically imposing block. In addition to running like the chase, the Senegalese are fantastic athletes, many between 5’9″ and 6’6″. They strictly adhere to the Olympic motto: “Faster, higher, stronger”. With a few drops of technique they are already footballers. But it’s not enough to stand out, it takes much more than that: intelligence, ability, talent. That is why Messi can be the best of all with 1.70 tall and 67 kilos. Soccer is played with the feet, but the feet follow orders from the mind. She is the one who decides everything. These Senegalese have a hard time unbalancing because they don’t have one on one, no one dribbles. And it is the dribbling that allows the goal situation. Ricardo Bochini, genius of this game, used to say: “If I elude one, a teammate is free, if I elude two it is already a goal situation”. The dribble cleans the way and creates spaces. Nor do they show inventiveness for the filtered pass, another way of causing danger. They have so much physical exuberance, so many chances to finish first, that they base much of their tactics on running, jumping or grappling. If they touch the ball from below they get complicated. And on top of that, without Mané.

However, Senegal lost due to two specific failures by their goalkeeper Édouard Mendy, a starter for English Chelsea. In the first goal, he went wrong to look for a cross, hugged the air and Gakpo headed into the net. In the second he rebounded a soft shot from Depay, which Klaasen took advantage of to push into the net. Without such errors, it looked like a pinned 0-0. But Mendy plays for Senegal.

The Netherlands virtually qualified, because to these three points they should undoubtedly add the three against Qatar. And with six you reach the eighths. Ok, but what is Holland…? An organized group, very much like Van Gaal, without big stars, although young and with good actors, the best of all Frenkie De Jong, a five with door-to-door handling and delivery of the ball, always at the foot. Ecuador should cover it up with a worker who prevents him from leaving clean. Without his guidance, Holland reduces his chances. In addition, the orange box always has the intention of playing well. It was convenient for Ecuador that one of the two win, if possible, the Netherlands. And he was given the perfect result, in a single date he already took 3 points and four goals ahead of the two third parties. Very reassuring for the objective of advancing the round.

The World Cup started well, there were no wonderful shows, but there were 14 goals in 4 games, at a significant average of 3.50 per game. What is remarkable is that 9 of those 14 conversions were the work of Afro-descendants, that is, they are also a physical marvel, but born or educated as a soccer player in Europe or the United States, with a different interpretation of the game. Five of the six English goals were from Saka (2), Rashford, Bellingham and Sterling. They have a different chip than the Senegalese. We will see what Ghana, Morocco, Tunisia and Cameroon offer.

Not as many people came as expected. The stadiums are not yet full and there are tickets on sale. Al Thumama has a capacity for 40,000 people, but on the stadium’s electronic poster they put the data that the attendance was 41,900. Mistake…? And something else: it was not even 70%. Is the European boycott having an effect…?

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