There were mixed reactions to Qatar’s World Cup opening day in the gulf state’s media – with effusive praise for the opening ceremony and Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and a somewhat more muted reception to the team’s 2-0 defeat at the hands of Ecuador.
English-language daily the Peninsula enthused about the opening ceremony, writing: “To the entire world and all those in attendance, it was a promise delivered in spectacular fashion. While hosting the World Cup is often a once-in-a lifetime opportunity, given the global interest in hosting the Mondial, the world can give Qatar a thumbs up for delivering on its promises.”
The Gulf Times singled out Qatari Ghanim al-Muftah for praise, saying he had “shone” at the opening ceremony. Born with Caudal regression syndrome, a disorder that impairs the development of the lower spine, Muftah is a local social media celebrity who walks on his hands, and who, in dialogue with Morgan Freeman, spoke on inclusion and diversity and quoted the Qur’an.
The pro-government semi-official paper of Qatar, Al Raya, went beyond the call of duty in praising the man who drove Qatar to bid for the World Cup, the Emir. In an editorial following the Emir’s speech at the opening ceremony, it wrote: “We are overwhelmed with feelings of love, gratitude and pride in our wise leadership, which always strives to raise the name of Qatar above the cloud.”
Muhammad Al-Marri in the Al-Watan wrote: “The truth shone like a sun in the middle of the day. And the dream turned into a tangible reality. Those who know Qatar, its leadership, and its people bet on its victory and won. As for those who doubted and promoted lies and spread fallacies, their loss was heavy and their end painful.”
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And the verdict on the football? Also a painful loss.
In a press conference after the match, Qatar’s Spanish coach, Félix Sánchez, was pressed on whether modifying the formation and style of play of the team had lead to the loss. He told reporters the national team still has a lot to offer in its next match – against Senegal on Friday – and they did not appear at their true level.
Focus for much criticism had been the goalkeeper Saad al-Sheeb, who flapped at a cross leading to Ecuador’s early disallowed goal, and then conceded the penalty with which Enner Valencia opened the scoring. After the game Sheeb insisted: “There are two remaining matches in which we can make amends.”
In its match report the Peninsular raised questions about the team’s preparations, with journalist Fawad Hussain writing: “Qatar fans were expecting a much better show. The hosts failed to register a single shot on target in their historic match. Perhaps, Qatar succumbed to the pressure of winning on their World Cup debut in front of their home fans. Al Annabi didn’t look a side said to be the best prepared team of this World Cup, with all the players being kept out of the country’s top flight league to train at isolated camps offshore for more than four months.”
In the Gulf Times, Sahan Bidappa wrote: “The manner in which they crumbled against Ecuador would have disappointed the home fans,” many of whom were observed leaving long before the match had ended. The paper lamented: “This was supposed to be Qatar’s easiest fixture.”
Bidappa said: “As the Qatar players failed to impose themselves on the game, coach Sánchez stared at the roof of the tent-shaped architecture marvel Al Bayt Stadium, wondering what he or his players could have done differently on the night. In reality, not much,.”
He added of the team “on the biggest stage of their lives, Qatar players looked frozen, clearly overawed by the historic occasion. This was a nervous and disjointed performance.”
