On February 14, 1973, Pelé’s Santos played in a remote and unknown country in the Middle East. In the early 1970s, such tours of exotic destinations, with the sole objective of generating economic gains. An already veteran squad from São Paulo that had lost a good part of its competitive possibilities played exhibition matches more like circus choreography than official matches. Nevertheless, those visits set fire to those towns.
The road to the Qatar World Cup 2022 in 100 stories.
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Qatar was a state with only two years of independent life and just over 100,000 inhabitants when oh king played there. Almost the same amount that any match of the Brazilian tournament gathered in Morumbí. The Doha stadium was the only one with natural grass on the peninsula and had a capacity for two thousand spectators. of course that day was filled to see the best footballer of all time. And also to attend the birth of Qatari football as such.
THE PIONEER CAME FROM BRAZIL
That excursion of Santos can be considered as the distant germ of the World Cup 2022. Those responsible for the national federation were dazzled by the Brazilian geniuses and hardly had the opportunity to create a project of development hired a professional of that origin. Then Evaristo Macedo arrivedwho had a past as a footballer in Barcelona Y real Madrid Y he had already started his career as technical director.
Evaristo Macedo the pioneer of Qatari football who came from Brazil in the late seventies @QFA
Evaristo arrived in 1979 and took charge of the country’s soccer structure. Professionalized all areas, created the conditions for the foundation of clubs and led the first of two comprehensive projects that Qatar had. The success was immediate. In 1980, the senior team qualified for the Asian Cup for the first time and a year later the Under 20 team surprised the planet and achieved the world runner-up in Australia. On the way to the final against West Germany (they fell 0-4) they eliminated Brazil and England. It was the debut of Qatari football, which He also participated in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
However, the momentum did not continue in the following years and the expected evolution after those sudden successes he did not arrive until 2004, when the oil money was invested in the project that today supports what will be the first World Cup team in the history of Qatar. Far from reaching their World Cup just to comply with the bureaucratic and obligatory participation of the venue, the Qatari side have a competitive squad that were crowned continental champions three years ago Y knew how to compete on the America Cupthe Concacaf Gold Cup Y the arab cup.
THE FINAL PROJECT
In 2004 the Aspire Academy for Sports Excellence was created, to elevate to the highest what Evaristo Macedo had imagined. Founded by Emir Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani and with direct funding from the state, the Academy had 31 students in its first year. Today it has thousands of applicants, first class facilities and a scouting network in 17 countries, most of them in Africa. Even in 2012 the managers of the Academy bought the Belgian club KAS Eupenwhere the best exponents are forged. Three years later they repeated with Cultural Leonesaa Spanish institution that was about to disappear and today is the host of the First Federation, third national category.
Before founding the Academy, the Qatari authorities contacted specialist Andreas Bleicher, director of one of Germany’s Olympic training centers. Bleicher soon realized that the small Arab country had a difficult limitation to overcome: the very small population (2,800,000 inhabitants, of which only 11 percent are citizens, that is, about 300,000). So they realized that «importing» young talent was the best way to promote national football. And they went to fish in the same river where the great ones of Europe fish: Africa.
Of the 23 Asian champions in 2019, nine are of African descent, with Sudan and Somalia as the main origins. Unlike other sports such as handball, in which the Qatari team came to present a huge majority of foreigners, the soccer regulations put more obstacles and that model cannot be transferred. So, the arrival of young people from other latitudes should be earlier and also serve to enhance the qualities of athletes born in Qatar. The objective since winning the 2022 World Cup venue twelve years ago, was to form a competitive Selection for the event that will begin in less than three months. Times were shortened and they achieved it four years earlier. Today, Qatar is one of the references of Asian football.
“It scared us,” said Franck Cedric Tchoutou, a Cameroonian who is among the first fellows to live and train in Doha. “Most of us come from poor families. Being in Qatar or being in Aspire was a great experience. It was a great opportunity. So we walked around and we were always afraid of losing our chances.» Despite these testimonies, the criticisms were heard and still are.
Because, of course, with money everything is much easier. The Academy gets the best because it has the means to «invade» the courts of much less privileged countries and tempt families with a future away from the hardships of Africa. The «looting of legs» suffered by the continent not only has the Europeans as protagonists, but also the Arabs. Also, the money is used so that figures like Raúl or Xavi become the image of the project, which gives it visibility and prestige.
THE CATALAN CONNECTION
After finding the raw material, it is necessary to form a strong team. Find eleven who pass each other and win matches. For that, the Federation went to look for a graduate of La Masía, the pinnacle in footballer training. Felix Sanchez Bas he worked in the lower divisions of Barcelona for a decadeuntil in 2005 Josep Colomer, partner of Sandro Rosell (later arrested in the framework of the investigation against an international money laundering network), tempted him to be one of the aspire leaders.
After his work in the Academy and in youth, Sánchez Bas took over the Senior National Team @AGCFF
Of course, the style that is instilled in the fields of Doha has as its ideal that of the culé team. Josep Guardiola is the role model for Sánchez Bas: «Pep Guardiola is a reference for me. He has managed to win titles playing in a way that, in my opinion, has bestial merit. I already know that he has the best, but what he proposes has a lot of merit and is to be admired. The truth is that when you look at how his teams play and how he sets up his games, I see him as a top coach, the best in the world».
After successfully training Juvenil A in Barcelona, Sánchez Bas took charge in 2007 of the Qatar Under 15 National Teamwhen there was only 220 tokens of players under 15 years of age in the country. In 2013already with an eight-year job at the Academy, became the technical director of the Sub 19 and there he began to plant the seeds of the current Asian champion and next debutant in the World Cup. Of course, by that time he already knew all the possible call-ups for all the youth teams.
In 2014, Qatar were crowned champions of the U19 Asia Cup for the first time in their history.. The base of that campus is the one that was champion of the last continental competition for adults and that prepares to represent the host in the World Cup of this year. The hand of the Catalan had a lot to do with that evolution.
His good work in the Academy and in the minor teams gave Sánchez the opportunity to take charge of the absolute, just when their best projects were ready to take the final step. He replaced Jorge Fossati in 2017 and just over a year later achieved the greatest success in Qatari football history. In any case, that did not weaken the work in youth, since the Sub 20 participated in the 2019 World Cup that Ukraine won.
This is how the DT explains the project: «It was a project to try to improve the level of football in the country and create a structure. Then also the patience they have had, because it is clear that when you start a process things do not come up and you do not start winning from the first day. In Qatar they have had the patience and they have believed in the work to achieve what we achieved in the Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates, which is very important».
About the similarities with Barcelona’s representative style of play, he has set some limits: «To say that we play like Barcelona would be lying.. We have our way of playing. Obviously, we like to dominate the game, but also understanding that in many games we can’t be because the rival is who he is. You have to master all facets of the game and be prepared to face different types of matches or different phases in the same match.»
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There is another name related to culé history that has been important in the project of the qatari national team. Xavi Hernandezperhaps the best Spanish footballer in history, He arrived in Qatar in 2015 and the intention of the leadership was that he be the one to lead the national team after his retirement. The Catalan was the face of the World Cup for several years and a fundamental ambassador to publicize the virtues of the Qatari organization. Nevertheless, after more than six years in the country, he returned to Barcelona to take charge of the team of all his life and the original plan changed the protagonist, but not the spirit.
Almost fifty years have passed since Pelé’s visit to an almost deserted Arab country. Where there was only a small natural grass stadium, now they are the ten most modern arenas on the planet. Where there were no players, now there is a continental champion who dreams of an unforgettable debut in the World Cup.