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Empty seats at the Al-Bait Stadium in Khour
Photo: Francois Nel/Getty Images
You can’t buy World Cup success:
The opening ceremony for the 2022 World Cup was as pompous as one could expect: the mascots from the tournament’s history performed dances, star guest Morgan Freeman and representatives of Qatar paid lip service to diversity and openness, colorful lights sparked a party atmosphere everywhere .
But as the game against Ecuador got closer to kick-off, the glamor of the Qatari staging receded.
The timing of the countdown to the first touch of the ball went wrong, the Italian referee Daniele Orsato kicked off the whistle three seconds earlier – and opened the sporting part of the event, which was to become extremely embarrassing for the Asian champions.
The result:
Qatar lost 2-0 (0-2) to Ecuador – making them the first hosts in World Cup history to lose the opening game.
The defeat could have been even worse.
Here is the match report.
Illustrious guest list:
In addition to US superstar Freeman, other global celebrities attended the event in the Al Bait Stadium in Chaur.
The reason for the respective fame varied: Jung Kook is South Korea's most famous pop singer, Gianni Infantino the ruler of the world association Fifa, Mohammed bin Salman the Saudi crown prince, who is said to have most likely commissioned the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
The boundaries between the entertainment industry and despots, they rarely seemed to flow into one another as they did on this afternoon in Qatar.
Please note:
It quickly became sporty.
The game between Senegal and the Netherlands was originally supposed to be the first game of the World Cup, but the schedule was only subsequently changed in favor of the hosts.
In hindsight, Qatar would have preferred to hide deeper in the game plan: Ecuador dominated, Qatar could hardly free themselves playfully.
And goalkeeper Saad Al Sheeb had big problems in terms of safety and control of the penalty area, a slapstick insert after three minutes almost started the early deficit.
A scandal that wasn't one:
Captain Enner Valencia's headed goal (after a side kick that was worth seeing) didn't count, and for ten minutes the majority of TV viewers asked themselves: why?
The one, quickly recorded slow motion gave little information.
Only after a quarter of an hour did the beautiful 3D graphics appear, which showed which Ecuadorian had been offside and when.
A correct decision, then, but one that one would have liked to have broken down earlier.
Ecuador's Zizou:
Because the performance of the team of Spanish coach Félix Sánchez continued to fluctuate between a shattered defense and being overwhelmed in the passing game, Valencia got more chances: once he rounded Al Sheeb, was knocked off his legs and converted the penalty kick (16th minute), once he headed low into the goal (31st).
After three goals in the 2014 tournament in Brazil, Valencia now has five World Cup goals - as many as Romário, Roger Milla and Zinédine Zidane.
It remains to be seen whether more will be added: In the second half, the match winner was injured and replaced.
Boycott out of boredom?:
In this country, forgoing World Cup consumption is considered a moral statement.
A number of seats remained empty at the start of the second half at Al Bait Stadium, behind the goal in the Qatari block and on the backstretch.
The reason could have been the helpless performance of the so ambitious Asian champions, in which only a header from top scorer Almoez Ali caused danger (44th), before Joker Mohammed Muntari volleyed the ball onto the goal net (86th). .
In any case, the stadium escape became
the
topic of the game on Twitter.
With their backs to the wall:
The task won't get any easier for Qatar: The other group opponents are Senegal, reigning African champions, and the Netherlands, strong in form co-favourites.
On Monday (5 p.m., TV: ZDF and Magenta), Qatar’s competitors will meet in a direct duel.
After the opening win, Ecuador can hope to reach the knockout stage for the first time in World Cup history.
