Neymar’s Brazil and Lionel Messi’s Argentina arrive in Doha with plenty of firepower and established squads, sparking dreams of a Cup win that have eluded them for a long time. | Photo credit: Reuters
Soccer, for the first time in its history, has put its lucrative club/league calendars on hiatus in mid-winter to participate in the World Cup. The 29-day exhibition continues in Qatar despite protests from European clubs and leagues, which have long dictated the fate and calendar of world soccer.
World governing body FIFA’s 2010 vote to award Qatar the 2022 tournament and determination to back its decision undeterred by a decade of growing universal disapproval shows the growing influence of the Arabian Gulf on the game. Qatar Sports Investment, chaired by Naseer Al-Khelaifi, recently acquired a 22% stake in Portuguese club SC Braga and has owned Ligue 1 side Paris Saint-Germain since 2011. rights to World Cup, EURO, Champions League , Premier League and Ligue 1.
Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund has also dabbled in soccer with the acquisition of Newcastle United, while the Abu Dhabi-backed City Football Group owns 11 clubs around the world, including Manchester City and Mumbai City FC.
But with the World Cup about to kick off with the opening game on November 20 at Al Bayt Stadium between the host and Ecuador, which received a reprieve from the Court of Arbitration for Sport to participate despite fielding an ineligible player during In the qualifiers, there is still uncertainty about Qatar’s ability to withstand the pressure of having a myriad of visitors from around the world, who will likely dwarf the local population (many of them immigrants) by at least two and a half times.
However, this World Cup, the last to have 32 teams in the fray, has enough stars to overcome any doubt once the football begins.
The two South American soccer superpowers, Brazil and Argentina, arrive in Doha with plenty of firepower and established rosters, sparking dreams of a Cup win that have eluded them for a long time. Lionel Messi, whose mere presence has enhanced every club he has played for, has inexplicably failed to exert the same influence on a La Albiceleste T-shirt. But with the 2021 Copa América finally packed into its overflowing trophy case, Argentina is preparing to see the competition cast aside for a surreal finish from the 35-year-old wizard.
Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal in action during the Portugal training session at the Al Shahaniya SC training site on November 19, 2022 in Doha, Qatar | Photo Credit: Getty Images
the search for ronaldo
For Cristiano Ronaldo, the relentless ‘Djoker’ of Messi’s ‘Federeresca’ class, the World Cup offers the heavenly platform to unload, non-verbally, the alleged ill-treatment suffered at Manchester United. His Portugal teammates, quite a few from United and their crosstown rival, will be eager to fuel the fury of the five-time Ballon d’Or winner to lift the ultimate crown.
Europe has a heavyweight presence, despite the absence of Euro champion Italy in Germany, defending champion France bolstered by the realignment of the attacking force of Karim Benzema and Kylian Mbappe, Spain and England to continue its 16-year hegemony in the Cup.
Belgium and Croatia, two surprise semi-finalists in 2018, will once again call upon their aging ‘Golden Generation’ of Kevin de Bruyne, Eden Hazard, Luka Modric and Ivan Perisic to beg for another dream race.
Denmark, on an inspiring run since the reappearance of Christian Eriksen following his brush with death at Euro 2020, may cause surprises, while the bookmaker’s favorite tag rightly fits Neymar, Gabriel Jesus, Casemiro, Vinicius Junior, Brazil embedded.
Asia and Africa’s hopes of creating waves rest with Japan, led by Hajime Moriyasu, and Nations Cup winner Senegal, despite Sadio Mane’s last-minute injury loss.
This World Cup in winter (FIFA will pay clubs £8500 a day to release players for mid-season madness) has all the ingredients to be another bestseller. Qatar, with its extended bet; Qatar’s state-owned sports investment fund employs Messi, Mbappe and Neymar at PSG and players from many other nations playing in the World Cup, and hopes to be the big winner in this geopolitical power play.
