Qataris go home at half time as hosts made to look like amateurs by Ecuador journeymen

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by Rooster

 

Welcome to ASEAN NOW's daily World Cup blog presented by our columnist Rooster. The blog will contain all the latest news from Qatar 2022 in Rooster's inimitable fashion, all with a Thai perspective. 

 

So the hype was finally over last last night with the kick-off of the Qatar 2022 World Cup that will see 64 games over the next four weeks.

 

Thai and expatriate fans in the kingdom were predictably left waiting to the last minute until several large corporations stepped in to show the matches for free on Thai TV. True also put the matches on their channels for the first time after coughing up 200 million baht in a cut price deal. 

 

Dual language options are available by pressing buttons on your remote.

 

The opening ceremony at the Al- Bayt stadium - fabulously lit in a Bedouin style tent style in the middle of a lonely desert - featured Hollywood star Morgan Freeman narrating about football's ability to unite as local singing stars and BTS's Jung Kook sang Dreamers, the tournament song. 

 

 

Qatari singer Dana al-Fardan performed, though she was swathed in Arab clothing and masks from head to foot. She was next to YouTuber Ghanim Al-Muftah who has a rare disease called Caudal Regression Syndrome meaning he only came up to the lady's knees. 

 

There was a big cheer when the Emir arrived and took his seat next to FIFA boss Gianni Infantino who appeared to understand Tamin bin Hamad Al Thani's Arabic. He was flanked by Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud.

 

 

That's MBS who the CIA say murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi. 

 

No one mentioned LGBTQ+ rights, migrant workers or the fact that supporters are having to pay 8,000 baht a night to stay in shipping containers in the desert. That's the "budget" option. 

 

Applause for the Emir and the rogues' gallery surrounding him had barely subsided when hosts Qatar and Ecuador took to the turf for the opening match in Group A. 

 

 

Within seconds they were seemingly behind from Enner Valencia's header but a teammate's toe was offside leading to the goal being disallowed by the Video Assistant Referee much to the bemusement of most people watching on TV.

 

But the relief for the hosts was shortlived as Valencia scored a penalty - with the Qatar keeper very lucky to stay on the pitch - and added a superb header to make it 0-2 at half-time.

 

Ecuador - filled with journeymen who are or were on the peripheries of English Premier league teams at best - barely needed to get out of second gear.

 

That was the cue for thousands of Qataris to quit the desert and head back to town. They didn't miss much in the second half - Ecuador played out the game for an extremely easy win.

 

 

Despite Qatar being Asian champions and having several players with 100 games under their belts the hosts looked like a team out of the third or fourth tiers of English football. And that's being a bit disrespectful to Leagues 1 and 2!

 

Ecuador ran rings around Qatar with the hosts committing foul after needless foul like park footballers.

 

They'd been preparing for six months but the hosts were completely hapless.

 

When the referee brought the torture to an end it was the Ecuador supporters cheering and the rest of the world wondering why such a poor game of football should kick off such a major event.

 

Qatar didn't have a single shot on target.

 

Now with games against Senegal on Friday and the Netherlands on November 29th coming up, it will be a miracle if Qatar are not eliminated in the group stage becoming only the second hosts after South Africa to suffer that ignominy.

 

Today's action in Group A features Senegal vs Netherlands at 11 pm Thai time.

 

Before that England take on Iran at 8pm and later tonight (2 am Tuesday) the USA meet Wales in the other Group B clash.

 

 

England will be hoping that talisman and Russia 2018 Golden Boot winner Harry Kane can "fill his boots" but manager Gareth Southgate still has great holes in his defence after a dismal run of form.

 

For the first time in several international tournaments England's supporters are toning down the "It's coming home" rhetoric for a more balanced "semi finals maybe" or "quarters at best" stance. 

 

Wales will be hoping that Gareth Bale - now looking past his sell-by date - can muster up some magic to match his country's last run in the tournament in Sweden in 1958 when they made the last eight losing to eventual winners Brazil. 

 

Predictably in Thailand the first World Cup story was about crackdowns on gambling by the RTP - Thais will be wagering 50 billion baht according to some reports. 

 

As a guide to the likely chances of teams here are the latest odds from Betfair (an exchange where weight of money decides odds) with a caveat that betting on football in Thailand is illegal. 

 

Brazil are currently 100-30 favorites with Argentina at about 6-1, France 9-1, Spain and England at a little over 10-1. Germany and the Netherlands are 12-1 and 13-1 respectively.

 

Rooster is going for the Netherlands to finally come good at a World Cup after many failures in the past - most notably Argentina in 1978 - when they should have won. 

 

They have good recent form and may be able to gain in confidence and surprise Neymar and Messi and lift the famous trophy come the World Cup final on Sunday December 18th (early hours of the morning next day Thai time).

 

 

-- © Copyright  ASEAN NOW 2022-11-21

[JonnyF]

Qatar were awful.

 

Would have been 3-0 had VAR not ruled out a perfectly good goal after 3 minutes that would have been the fastest opener in World Cup history.

 

Ecuador look a decent side though.

[JoePai]

Excellent result

[Confuscious]

Oh dear, another football team for the FIRE SQUAD.
Better run now you still can .....

[KhunBENQ]

The media pictures of the half empty stands and the "fleeing" visitors are too funny.

I read that during the TV broadcast they carefully avoided such pictures

Edited November 21, 2022 by KhunBENQ

[ballpoint]

Bad news for those attending. The stadiums are hot enough as it is, and now half the fans are missing.