Qatar World Cup Reflections- Day 9

This morning as I sat for coffee, I got to thinking what a team really means? It's hard to define when a group of players really become a team. Brazil are a great group of players, on paper possibly the best. And yet they were beaten by Croatia, much less endowed players, but a much more gelled together team. In football, genuine teams have a camaraderie spirit, which indelibly is born from a shared experience that never really dies. Real teams are timeless and remain so long after they no longer form one.

There is an Argentinian player, defender Oscar Ruggieri, who famously won the World Cup in 1986 together with Diego Maradona. He calls his teammates "his other family," and says what these brothers did on the field for each other in many ways is as close if not closer than blood relation. They practiced together. Sweated and toiled together. They fought for each other. They joked and helped one another. They suffered losses and celebrated victory together. They lived as roommates. They experienced special things as a team, that no one else could ever wholly understand. This Argentine team is arguably the most beloved in the country of all times because it is perceived as the band of brothers who stood up to the English after the War of the Malvinas and beat them on the football field, honoring all the Argentinean lives lost in that war ... The team went all the way to win the World Cup that year.

I was thinking all this on this exciting day because I was going to meet my childhood Beirut football team here in Doha later in the day, some of whom I had not seen for decades. Our beloved coach Dough was also in town watching some games. We had all decided we would meet in a West Bay Cafe and head to the Corniche Fan Fest to watch the Portugal-Morocco game before heading over to Al Beyt Stadium to watch England-France, which many of us had tickets for.

Growing up in Beirut, my team was called the TMA. We were a travel team formed of players from the same school. Even though we were from different areas, backgrounds, and religions, we practiced and played together as brothers and as one team under the craziest of circumstances in the midst of the Lebanon civil war. We toiled and sweated under intense summer heat and during Ramadan but egged each other on. We won local tournaments together. We have kept in touch after decades but don't get to meet as often because many of us migrated to North America, Africa, the Gulf, and Europe. We all have families now and most were bringing them along. Qatar, after all, is quite a family friendly destination, supremely safe, and most entertainment is kids orientated.

In fact, many of those we have met so far, particularly from Latin America, the Middle East and Africa have come with their wives or entire families, unlike Europeans, Aussies, and North Americans who ironically tend to be only male. Not sure why, since they are generally with wealthier means. Heck in Argentina, they are taking out loans literally called World Cup loans to come all the way. Can't really explain this "machismo" from the West, but haven't read anyone from here complain about it as the press of those countries complains about other customs and habits here. This said, it has been quite interesting to note the ebb and flow of nationalities as the World Cup has progressed. In the beginning there were more British, Mexican, and Saudi fans. Now there seems to be a lot more French, Argentinian, and a ton of Moroccan fans, many of whom have put on Palestinian insignia in support of Palestinian freedom.

When my teammates started arriving, it was surreal. We all picked it up where we had left off, laughing, sharing, and remembering happy times as well as remembering those of us who couldn't join or are no longer with us. Had there been a ball present, I shudder to think, heaven knows what we would have done in that Cafe. Together we also celebrated Morocco's amazing victory over Portugal, one that likely saw Cristiano Ronaldo play his last World Cup game. Although with such a consummate professional who obsesses over his shape and physique, one never really knows. Interestingly, Morocco beating Belgium a couple of weeks back was a miracle. Them beating Spain last week was brilliant. Now, beating Portugal all of a sudden seems like a new normal! En Nasyry's 2.8m high jump to head the ball into the net, caught on camera from a hundred angles, if anything was a homage to Cristiano Ronaldo himself who had almost copyrighted the move for decades. He could do little watching as these Atlas Lions devoured Portugal, driving the entire Arab world and Africa into utter delirium being the first Arab and African team to ever reach the WC semis.

My team had all opted not to go to the Fan Fest to watch the game, because it has started to get relatively windy and cold in the evenings here in Doha, something which we hadn't really come prepared for, at least not psychologically. Temperatures reach 20 degrees during the day, but drop to lower teens and sometimes lower in the evening. Staying indoors helped us re-bond together and get ourselves ready for the smashing game of England-France in Al Bayt stadium later that evening.

We all decided to take public transportation to be together with all our kids in tow. Heading to the stadiums has become somewhat of a ritual by now. Fans know when, where, and how to go. Notably, there are now less ushers than there used to be at the beginning of the World Cup both along the walking routes and in metro/bus stations and yet everything is still flowing very nicely. We walked over to the West Bay bus hub to take the stadium shuttle. As all transportation in and around Doha, as long as you have the Hayya fan card, it's all free. It took us about an hour and a quarter to get to the stadium, and it was worth every minute of it as the team caught up some more. I must confess, at times it felt as if we were heading to a game of our own. Surreal!

The England-France game itself was of the highest technical quality and we got to see it some players up close and personal. Griezman was skillfully sublime. The duel between Mbappe and Kyle Walker right in front of us was incredible. Mbappe's gazelle-like acceleration at times seemed extra terrestrial. Albeit the game lacked the drama ending of the Brazil and Argentina matches, the game was great to watch, not least the chanting duels between the two sets of fans at either end of the stadium. In the end, France went through to the semis and England's "football coming home" bit had to wait as football seems to continue preferring many other homes since 1966. For us football purists, two giants of football matched up nicely. In the end, many of us felt justice was done having gotten tired of all the negative British press, whose tournament coverage of this great event has been an abomination quite frankly. It was said the BBC hadn't even broadcast the opening ceremony, preferring instead on one of it's social media channels to cover the Gay Games of 1982 and discuss homophobia in sports. When commentator Gary Lineker finally was brought on, their core discussion was not about football but about worker rights. This ironically coming from the very same Brits who BREXITTED Europe (and are now estimated to be losing $400 Billion of GDP per year) precisely BECAUSE of their phobia of migrant workers! Tragically for the English team, instead of the press lifting their national team to victory, it placed an omen on them forcing them to explain why they were even there, with midfielder Jordan Henderson at one point needing to say, "we're just footballers." Did all this negative coverage have adverse effects on the players? Who knows. Bottom line, Brittain has now been brexitted out of the World Cup as France moves on.

A final word on Mbappe who was positioned literally meters from our seats. The stadium eagerly stood up or erupted every time he got the ball, not unlike Messi. Now that Messi and Cristiano are knocking on the doors of their retirement from international football, are we seeing the king's mantle pass? Judging by Mbappe's amazing skills, astute trickery, and stunning speed, at one point leaving a speedy English fullback in his dust, I would not wager against it. But then of course came Mbappe's smile that said it all, watching England's captain Harry Kane miss his second penalty by a country mile ... An Emiratee fan seated next to me joked he will be calling home to ask that they return that overshot ball. The incident has become a meme.

And now, what great semi final games await us: France-Morocco, which we fortunately already had tickets for; and Argentina versus Croatia, which Karim worked his ever-increasing footballing network skills to swap two tickets for ... An Argentina-Morocco dream final perhaps? Goodness gracious !!! What a game that would be, and I don't mean on the field but the fans in the stands ... Both sets of fans have been the runaway success and talk of the tournament together ...

But first, some rest and catching up on some museums ...