Qatar World Cup Reflections: Day 2

The day started early with what else, a Lebanese breakfast, pure protein nutrition for all the walking planned ahead. A short walk later from the hotel to the West Bay metro station right by the Doha Corniche reminded me that I had last been here a good decade ago, but now couldn't recognize a thing. A local friend said to me, "heck we residents can't recognize it from last year and have to use Google Maps!" It did come as a pleasant surprise that it was an underground metro neatly cutting across the city in a fairly complex urban transportation system that also included several tram lines and bus routes. Our destination for the day, Lusail, is a new extension of Doha, constructed recently with tall buildings, large malls, a marina, as well as the largest stadium by the same name, where the WC final will take place.

The metro system itself is pretty much state of the art costing Qatar around $36B with a total of four lines. It is part of a GCC-wide regional train network connecting the countries and their internal infrastructure. Reminding one of the new Elizabeth Line in the London Tube, at times it seemed over capacitated, at others a clear bet on the future, which is to be expected, considering the advanced state of development of neighboring Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
Stopping by the Convention Center for a quick FIFA Hayya card print out went by in a breeze as everything is pretty much electronic and automated, as had been the entrance to the country the evening before. Milling about were hundreds of Argentinian fans desperately looking for tickets to see their beloved Albicelestes play later in the evening against Australia in the round of 16. A quick hop to Lusail confirmed the build-it-and-they-will-come approach of the country's development.

Lusail Boulevard itself is all built up with coffee shops and restaurants and WC flags lining both sides, but at midday most visitors and fans had either not gotten the memo, or their wake-up alarm had not gone off. It was a marvel of a ghost town except for a few Argentinians clad in blue and white stripes. Of all fans so far, they seemed to be the most ubiquitous around the city- affirming quite the passionate footballing culture of their nation. Funny enough, for its relevant size, the Lebanese also seemed present as we bumped into a young man who turns out to be a Brazilian Lebanese dotting a Palestinos football shirt, which belongs to a famous Chilean team. His family originates from a small village in Lebanon's West Bekaa. If this isn't globalization incarnated, I don't know what is!
Soon, the afternoon heat began taking its toll, and we found ourselves heading back to the hotel to prepare for our first game. The US team is young and full of promise, but Holland is a footballing power to be reckoned with. The stadium itself had even-handed presence of Uncle Sam and Orange fans-the latter seemed less rowdy than usual no doubt because of the no-drinks on the stadium grounds rule.

I noted that few had "Respect for all" arm bands, which seemed to be the case so far as evidenced by a stadium atmosphere that was embracing multiple cultures and festive with music performances from all over the world and of all ages and backgrounds, including a curious Indonesian saxophone group playing older tunes, African dance bands, and a European live band playing football classics like Ole Ole ... There were no other visible signs of protest and frankly they would contextually fall flat to most peoples visiting from around the world who were on the receiving end of historic abuses by those doing the preaching including Indians, Africans, South Asians and South Americans ...

The narrative that some in Europe insist on peddling about the Qatar WC, to the chagrin of football fans, so far according to one Turkish fan is more a form of "misplaced moral superiority." To each his own, I guess. Most of us football fans came to see the beautiful game and how it brings people from around the world together, not separate them ... I will say this though, sadly, the variety in music and dance on display was not matched with the edibles, which no doubt were heavily curated by FIFA sponsoring agreements- meaning Coke, Coke, or more Coke, your choice dear football fan!
Getting into the stadium was a breeze. The electronic tickets on FIFA's mobile app made entrance quick and easy. The game itself would prove to be a great one. The US, which we were naturally supporting, did much better than expected and controlled most of the game, only to be undone with clinical Dutch finishing. No football purist will ever complain about a 3-1 result even though it came at one's team expense.

Later that very evening the Argentina-Australia game proved to be just as eventful with the unstoppable Messi opening proceedings and helping Argentina for through to the quarters to meet the Dutch. Watching those jubilant Argentinian fans jumping up and down chanting in the stands as they do in Boca's Bombonera stadium back in Buenos Aires is quite the sight to see. They will no doubt celebrate well into the night ...




























Location: Doha, Qatar

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