Paz Hasdai, messenger and voila!
Sport for Qatar, reporting before the opening match of the 2022 World Cup (Photo: Paz Hasdaei Video editing: Tal Reznik)
There's something heartwarming about knowing that no matter where you are - even if it's far from home, in a new stadium, at a prestigious tournament, in the opening match of the Pakistan World Cup - even then the two most annoying fans in the universe will be sitting in a row behind you.
Yesterday (Sunday) it was two Qataris, with stylish caps and galabiyas, scratching throughout the game, stomping their feet and kicking the chair of the amused journalist sitting below them, and mostly cursing, getting angry and indignant at the weak team they were cheering for.
Unfortunately, I didn't understand exactly what they said (is there anything unfortunate and sad about an Israeli who doesn't know Arabic?), but football was again reflected as an international language, poor and simple, and in fact everything was clear: we invested so much, we waited so much, we nurtured and believed and hoped, and in the end what we We accept this wretched team - whose moment of truth crumbles against Ecuador, a country whose GNP tickles our global budget. We poured 200 billion dollars into this tournament, united everyone, built infrastructure, built stadiums, everything was ready for this moment, but These players, our slaves, are not capable
of the full World Cup broadcast schedule
We invested, we bribed, and this is what we got? (Photo: GettyImages, Richard Sellers)
In a country where the real Qataris are 10-20 percent of the population, they are easy to spot among the millions of "ordinary" Asians and Africans around them.
They have a unique style, with white clothing that is always black and clean.
Miraculously, you will never come across a galavia with a pasta or mud stain, it is always beautiful and elegant, loose but meticulous.
(Occasionally in the bathroom you come across a Qatari who spends long minutes arranging the aqel and the kaffia, which will flow naturally to him).
Even their sandals underneath always look comfortable and luxurious, and when they sit side by side in the football stands, it has a special power.
The power also comes from the knowledge that these are the masters of the place.
They have the mentality of royalty, surrounded by slaves.
The starting point is that every Qatari is an asset to the state and therefore receives huge sums of money from it just for being a local.
In the metro they have their own cars, with more comfortable seats.
It was a mesmerizing sight to watch last night at the end of the game a long convoy of the fancy black Sherad cars leaving the stadium, to experience this unusual, excessive and flamboyant wealth.
But as mentioned, it's beyond wealth, it's an approach to life.
It didn't surprise anyone when it was reported that they allegedly tried to bribe players of the Ecuador national team to buy the opening game (even though the report is unfounded), because that's how they operate: for them, there's nothing that can't be bought.
It will not surprise anyone to discover that the cheering group behind the goal, the red group of "Ultras Qatar", actually consists of mercenaries who went through a training camp for professional encouragement in order to raise morale (how can this artificiality be compared to the natural and light singing of the Ecuadorians?).
The Qataris are used to money talking.
They are flattered and respected by kings everywhere.
Even the president of FIFA bows to them.
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To the full article
The Qatari captain's ribbon with the Palestinian flag (photo: official website, illustration)
And so, with this attitude, the two kind Qataris who sat behind me arrived at the stadium to watch the show, along with thousands more, so that the boys could play in front of us.
As they say in the economics sections, let's see what your money did today.
Qatar knew that this was a team they had been trying to cultivate for years, they invested budgets in it, naturalized foreigners, gave it all the conditions, even arranged for it an easy lottery and a comfortable home in the World Cup - then the members of the aristocracy settle in, and the team is unable to pass a pass.
In the 5th minute, the hosts concede their first goal, and the Qataris are stunned.
Very quickly the referee cancels the goal, and the locals are relaxed again in the stands, breathing a sigh of relief, feeling that things are going well after all, that someone is taking care of them, but then in the 16th minute, the first goal for Ecuador.
Then another gate.
The women grab the head.
The men are already starting to go down the stairs, to buy something, to console themselves, they can't see it.
The whole world is watching, this is international humiliation.
In the second half, they already start leaving the stadium early, going home before the end, so as not to stand in traffic.
A crowd of Rolls Royces.
And of course, the viral scene of the evening, that Ecuadorian fan who defiantly stood in the stands and made a money gesture with his fingers to tease the Qataris, and immediately responded with a classic "hello, sit down" gesture.
It was a symbolic moment, reflecting the happiness and pride felt by an Ecuadorian: we may come from a poor country in South America, we don't have crazy breeders in Quito, we don't have hundreds of billions of dollars to invest in a 30-day tournament, we'll never win the hosting of a World Cup, and that's fine;
Football is much more than money.
Today we won.
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