From a gigantic Bedouin tent in the desert comes the 22nd version of the Fifa World Cup.
Not a drop of beer was spilt in the vicinity of Al-Bayt stadium, 45km north of the capital Doha; a unique venue for an odd pairing as Qatar, ranked 51st in the world, faced Ecuador, ranked 46th, one above the Republic of Ireland.
The hosts were desperate to win their first World Cup match. The game finished 2-0 to Ecuador but it felt like the entire Arab world exploded in celebration when Enner Valencia’s third-minute header was disallowed by VAR. However, come the half-hour mark, the former West Ham United striker had netted twice.
Large swathes of the 67,372 attendance did not return for the second half. Was the reported $200 billion spent on infrastructure, namely transport and eight stadiums, for this?
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Predictably, the planet’s largest exporter of liquefied natural gas produced spectacular prematch pageantry as Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman, like David Beckham, went from spearheading a rival bidding nation to host the tournament to become the face of the first World Cup held in the Middle East.
“We gather here as one big tribe and Earth is the tent we all live in,” said the 85-year-old Freeman on the pitch beside Ghanim al Muftah, a native Qatari with caudal regression syndrome.
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Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the 42-year-old emir of Qatar, delivered his address in Arabic before finishing in English, a language he speaks fluently having been educated in England.
“Welcome and good luck to all,” said Sheikh Tamim.
The occasion is unlikely to overshadow comments made by Fifa president Gianni Infantino, who strongly criticised the European media’s criticism of the tournament taking place in Qatar, considering the country’s treatment of migrant workers and the LGBTQ+ community.
“For what we Europeans have been doing for the last 3,000 years around the world, we should be apologising for the next 3,000 years before starting to give moral lessons to people,” said Infantino, a Swiss-Italian who tried to explain declaring that he felt “gay” and “disabled” because “as a child in school, I was bullied because I had red hair and freckles”.
