The American newspaper “The Wall Street Journal” monitored 3 scenes that disturbed the peace of the Qataris on the night of the start of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, an event that Doha had been waiting for impatiently 12 years ago.
After the opening ceremony, which the newspaper described as “luxurious” with the participation of the American actor, Morgan Freeman, these three scenes reduced the aesthetics of the inauguration of the World Cup for the host country, which is looking to dazzle the world.
“we want beer”
On the night that Qatar has been waiting for since 2010, the World Cup opened with the loss of the Qatari national team, the first World Cup match in its history, 2-0 against Ecuador, inside the Al-Bayt Stadium, which was built in the style of the Bedouin tent.
For the Qatar World Cup, which has been associated with controversy for more than a decade, the opening night was not what the organizers envisioned, as no host lost its first match since the host countries began playing the opening match of the tournament in 2006.
Despite the intense technical preparations that lasted for months under the leadership of the Spanish coach, Felix Sanchez, who supervised the training of the players since they were young, the host team was slow and more nervous than Ecuador from the first whistle.
By the 16th minute, the guests advanced after Ener Valencia scored a penalty kick, following a mistake by goalkeeper Saad Al-Sheeb. Fifteen minutes later Valencia themselves doubled the lead with a brilliant header as a large group of yellow-clad Ecuadorean fans celebrated in Spanish chanting “we want beer”.
Qatar finished the match without taking a single shot on goal.
Exit country fans
The mood soured further as the evening wore on as several thousand fans left with Qatar trailing at half-time.
The second half of the match shows large swaths of empty seats despite an announced attendance of 67,372 at kick-off.
And international news agencies published pictures of empty seats during the second half of the match, which is an unusual phenomenon for the World Cup tournaments, as fans rush to get seats in the stands of the World Cup stadiums.
Chaos in the fan zone
In the center of the capital, Doha, huge groups of fans flocked to the largest fan zone in the city, only to be informed that it was completely full, forcing security to remove the crowds in a “chaotic scene”.
And the Associated Press said that tens of thousands of fans pushed police lines to enter the main fan area in Doha, which can accommodate nearly 40,000 spectators and beer is served.
Riot police armed with clubs and shields stood guard at the entrance. Some fans pleaded with the officers to let them pass.
“It’s a big risk,” Hatem al-Bari, an Iraqi working in Dubai, said, describing the general scene as the fan zone after he tried to enter; Because his family was inside.
“People can die. Old people and women, they can’t handle crowds like this,” he added.
Fans were trying to get into the enclosed area which has a giant screen to watch the games, places to buy beer and more.
According to the newspaper, the scene in Doha was a reminder that Qatar is still looking at how to host a huge event of this scale – the World Cup is a completely different event from the Asian Games that Doha hosted in 2006.
The Wall Street Journal said that the departure of the fans at the end of the first half, confusion in the crowd area, and the 2-0 loss against Ecuador spoiled the opening night of the host country for the World Cup.
She pointed out that it is not possible to prepare to receive more than one million visitors in a country whose population does not exceed 205 million.