■ 31st Anniversary Special – Qatar D-20 World Cup
Opening on 21 … 32 countries participated in a total of 64 “Great Blood Battle” games
The average high temperature in November is 29.5 degrees Celsius.
8 stadiums and seats for spectators
Create an optimal environment for air conditioning installation
The first 5 European championships suspended during the tournament
It is not easy to check the conditions of the players, etc.
On the 20th the 2022 World Cup is approaching in Qatar, a world football festival. In the middle of the desert, in particular, the World Cup takes place for the first time in winter, attracting attention in many ways.
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The Qatar World Cup kicks off at 1:00 am on the 21st (Korean time) at the Albeit Stadium in Al Khor, Qatar, with the first group match between the hosts of Qatar and Ecuador. And until the final, which will take place at the Lusail stadium in Lusail at 00:00 on December 19th, 32 nations will participate in a total of 64 matches in 29 days. However, the Qatar World Cup, unlike other tournaments, is arousing curiosity even before the opening due to the unfamiliar environment of ‘desert’ and ‘winter’. The World Cup took place in Uruguay in 1930 and this year is the 22nd. It is the first time in 20 years that the World Cup has been held in Asia since the Korea-Japan World Cup in 2002. It is usually held in June or July. However, for the first time ever, the Qatar World Cup will be held from November to December.
Located on the eastern side of the Arabian Peninsula, Qatar is surrounded on three sides by the Persian Gulf. The total area is 11,571 km2, similar in size to the Korean metropolitan area (11,868 km2). In the height of summer, the average maximum temperature exceeds 40 degrees Celsius. The humidity is also very high. It is impossible to hold matches in June or July.
But November, when winter comes, is a little better. The average maximum temperature drops to 29.5 degrees Celsius and in December drops to 24.1 degrees Celsius. The average humidity also drops to 20-60% in November and 5-20% in December. Of course, there are several cases where the temperature exceeds 30 degrees even in winter. As a result, there was still negative public opinion, but Qatar was equipped with a perfect air conditioning system to silence the objections.
In the eight stadiums where the Qatar World Cup will take place, air conditioning systems are provided on the ground and in the spectator seats, creating an optimal environment for matches and spectators. Fresh air is blown from all over the ground and from under the audience seats, lowering the temperature to around 20 degrees. In addition, the air circulates quickly to be purified and the stadium is designed to prevent hot heat from entering inside.
Despite this, the Qatar World Cup took place in November, in the middle of the European professional football season, so there were a lot of variables. In particular, the five major European leagues, including the English Premier League (EPL), which have many star players, are to be temporarily suspended from November to December, when the season is in full swing, so there is concern about deteriorating performance. of players due to the tight schedule. The risk of injury is also high.
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In this World Cup, the competition between Europe and South America for world football supremacy is expected to intensify. In the 21 World Cup so far, Europe has won 12 times and South America has won 9. However, since the 2006 World Cup in Germany, Europe has won the title four times in a row. Brazil won the Korea-Japan World Cup 20 years ago, the last time South America won the championship. The FIFA rankings 1st Brazil and 3rd place Argentina are challenging to reclaim the throne, while 4th place France, 5th place England, 7th place Spain and 9th place Portugal aim for dominance.
Korea, led by coach Paulo Bento, are aiming to enter the round of 16 for the third time in their career at the Qatar World Cup. World-class players such as Son Heung-min (Tottenham Hotspur) and Kim Min-jae (SSC Napoli) are expected. Korea broke through the group stage “wall” for the first time in history by reaching the quarter-finals of the Korea-Japan World Cup and progressed to the round of 16 in South Africa in 2010. However, at the 2014 World Cup. in Brazil and at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, they did not reach the goal of the round of 16. 28th-place Korea are in Group H and are competing against 9th-place Portugal, 14th-place Uruguay and 61st-place Ghana to advance to the round of 16.
Reporter Heo Jong-ho [email protected]
