2022 World Cup Diary – Part Three (Argentina v Mexico, Lusail Stadium)

 

Exterior of the Lusail Stadium – with tournament mascot    

Messi and Argentina belatedly arrive at the party   
Saturday 26th November 2022   

So let’s start with some aspects of the tournament that say so much. I was told some great information about the opening ceremony game and specifically the Qatari fans behind the goal in their uniform t-shirts. These seats were filled, row by row, just before kick off and after the opening ceremony had concluded – the obvious reason being that the ‘fans’ doing all the cheering were paid to work on the ceremony and then support the team. It makes sense. There is no football culture here amongst the ordinary people – certainly for the teams in their own league. I doubt they are even that fussed about football elsewhere in truth. One guy in a WhatsApp chat for those attending the tournament messaged -  “Talking to a Saudi fan yesterday at the (Poland v Saudi Arabia) match, he said 5,000 of them were shipped in for free, free ticket and hotel for the night plus $100 US dollars to spend. Who knows where the tickets come from?” And of course, the news coverage of the payments and freebies for the fan leaders suggests this is highly likely – although whether Qatar or the Saudis for this is anyone’s guess. That there were 5,000 hotel rooms available… well, they are charging so much I would be amazed if there wasn’t space given the sheer number of rooms. 

Back to the reason I am here and yesterday evening, it was my second match – this one at the venue for the final – the Lusail Stadium, where Argentina faced Mexico in a game they probably had to win given Mexico will surely beat Saudi Arabia and Poland had four points. The stadium is not too bad to get to if you are coming from the metro, and it didn't take too long to get in. After was a different story as we’d decided to go straight back to our accommodation using the stadium express bus service. Bad idea, We'd have been better cramming on the metro with hindsight – as it was maybe a three mile walk to the place where you caught the bus. Nothing but bad luck here, but sadly the coach driver was not that good on reading the satnav and we had to double back twice after he took wrong turns – the guy obviously wasn’t familiar with the roads because most of it was major highways so he was taking turnoffs he shouldn’t have. There are a huge number of buses being used for the matches and trips to and from the larger accommodation sites (to the airport for example) and obviously drivers have been recruited for the tournament. 

Still, the actual stadium and the game are the main things here. And the Lusail is an impressive place for a game of football. It feels huge, and whereas at Wembley, the upper tiers are reached by escalator, here we have stairs – and it's a long way up. No requirement for escalators for the ordinary Joes (I suspect the corporates have them, even though lower down) when the stadium will not be seeing much further use after this tournament. So it was a workout to get to the top – think Nou Camp away section, or Valencia. At least in the San Siro you have the spiral to walk up which makes life easier. It looks like a giant illuminated basket from the outside, and when you get close up it feels very high. Inside, once we negotiated the stairs to level 5, I have to say I was impressed – it reminded me of a larger scale version of Marseille’s Velodrome. It felt huge and we were a long way from the pitch – but at least had wonderful perspective of the game, which is a preference for me over being low down and close up. It’s certainly befitting of a World Cup Final, although I’d prefer to watch a match in the Al Bayt – where the opening ceremony and other semi-final will be held. It’s more intimate with the lesser number of seats.

Officially, Lusail stadium will be used as a “non-sporting” facility after the tournament – whatever that means. More informally, I’ve been informed it will be flattened and replaced with skyscrapers. No idea of the truth of that, but one thing is beyond doubt… Qatar can afford to build such a stadium and then knock it down after it has served its purpose – and the question over what a 90,000 capacity stadium could be used for in a country with a population of 3 million is one that can be asked at the next FIFA meeting on the organization’s commitment to stability. As an example of how to use a site with both local legacy and benefit elsewhere after a tournament, the London 2012 Olympics stands as an excellent example. There are no white elephants there as far as I am aware – and much as the Olympic Stadium may not be much of a football ground and paid for on a peppercorn rent, at least it’s being used on a regular basis both for football, other sports and concerts. 

The atmosphere for this match was predictably boisterous with the two sets of fans involved. The game itself took a long time to get going. Very little to excite in the first half, which was cagey and dominated by stoppages for fouls. Things took a turn for the better after the interval when Lionel Messi started to get more involved. He dropped deeper and played more midfield than attack to get his team up the pitch. He put a free kick over the bar after being taken down, but a short while later, was allowed just enough time on the ball outside the box for a long range shot into the low right hand corner. Someone wasn’t doing their job to allow him that space. The second goal came near as the clock neared the 90 minute mark and that was pretty much that. Mexico have a point but with a game against Saudi Arabia to finish, their tournament isn’t over yet, they could progress if they win against Saudi Arabia. Argentina looked good when they clicked into gear so can’t be written off on the basis of the shock opening defeat or their very slow start to this match. They got the result they needed and now have to look to beat Poland to continue their interest in these finals.

Sorry this blog is a day late – I am now officially in catch-up mode. Croatia v Canada at the Khalifa Stadium in the next one (which will be tomorrow)