Doha is already breathing the World Cup atmosphere eight months before the ecumenical event. This Friday, April 1, the draw for the Qatar World Cup 2022 at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Center (DECC), a huge venue with modern architecture that will draw the attention of the world of football.
In fact, the emotion skyrocketed with the arrival of the representatives of the different countries qualified for the tournament, the FIFA Congress and the legends party that brought together great stars and summoned nostalgia. One of the largest delegations was Argentina, led by Lionel Scalloni and his entire coaching staff, the president of the AFA Chiqui Tapia, other managers and administrators, such as Omar Souto, manager of national teams. The reason for the large delegation is that they will make an exhaustive tour of the Qatar Universitythe bunker chosen by the Albiceleste for the event, located near the Lusail stadium, which will host the final of the competition.
Congress, for its part, had its high point when Lise Klaveness, a judge and former player of the Norwegian national team, today president of the federation, who expressed solidarity with the workers who died in the works of the Qatar stadiums and called for gender equality within the structures of football. “It is not the forum or the time,” said the secretary general of the Honduran federation Jose Ernesto Mejia.
Far from the leadership environment, the legends game played at the Aspire Academy was won by the team that had among its ranks Gianni Infantino, head of FIFA, who chose Javier Mascherano, Andrea Pirlo and Marco Materazzi among his teammates. Gonzalo Belloso also stood out there, who until recently was part of the Conmebol payroll and today is FIFA’s liaison with South America.
Amidst good weather, the stars spoke to the media after the event. One of them, the Colombian Faryd Mondragón, was lapidary for the non-classification of his team to the World Cup. “Reinaldo Rueda is infamous, he should have given the people a joy, in a very easy Qualifiers to qualify,” said the former goalkeeper.
The Kun Agüero he did not participate, but not because he lacked desire. He chose to take care of himself after the cardiac event that forced him to retire. “I didn’t go to the Legends Match because I even got to play with the shoes, ha. The reality is that I have to wait a while, I have to do some checkups these months. I want to see that first, to go back to training and at least be able to play with friends or be able to say goodbye, ”he told TNT Sports.
Mascherano’s hard mark in the match of the legends
The Doha afternoon suffocated with its 33 degrees in spring, although with the sunset a pleasant breeze helped alleviate the heat. It was a brief sample of why the World Cup changed its month of dispute. In the final stretch of the World Cup and with all its stadiums ready, the streets showed constructions on every corner, 40-story skyscrapers side by side, a lot of luxury and impact. In addition, with a more westernized culture within the Arab world, although with some peculiarities.
For example, the subway, with stations that look like shopping malls. And the formations have wagons divided by category. The standard ones, where the men go, the relatives, where the women, their husbands and children go, and the gold ones, which have more comfortable seats and the guard usually passes by often.
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