From our special envoy in Doha,
You only need to drive a bit through the desert to realize the importance of buildings in the Qatari landscape. Cranes, concrete, buildings under construction, some left unfinished, some finished. The emirate has even managed to build a world-class football team in just under two decades, although Felix Sanchez’s men’s performance in the opening match of the 2022 World Cup (2-0 defeat against Ecuador) evokes the last of the Ligue 2 table.
Much to the regret of the Spaniard, who suspects his players are being devoured by the stakes. “Perhaps the nerves have betrayed us, we got off to a really bad start. We were very inaccurate technically, we never chained four passes. Sanchez had the grace not to mention Al Sheeb’s dangerous exits, failed checks in midfield and deep touches to the opponents’ feet, which all contributed to Qatar’s initial sinking. And embarrass him. Bowing down to his supposedly less good opponent from the start, the host jeopardizes his chances of saving honor in a group that also includes the Netherlands and Senegal. As if all the work done by Sanchez since his arrival the Aspire Academy in 2006 it had been useless.
Aspire and the Qatar Education Project
The Aspire Academy was established in 2004 to identify and train future Qatari athletes. King of sport in Qatar, football immediately took a privileged place there, so much so that Sanchez, who trained as a coach in La Masia, was able to experiment as much as he wanted in this sports laboratory. He also explains that he took advantage of the proximity of the players to the training center to keep a rhythm of two training sessions a day, something he has never seen done in Europe, except perhaps at Barça.
In order not to get stuck at the same level, the Spaniard has chosen to follow his players. In 2013 he faced the Qatar Under 19s, which he led to the Asian title. A feat that he will repeat with the greats in 2019. His team beat Japan in the final by conceding the only goal of the tournament, out of 19 registered. The statistic is insane and reflects the boy’s game ideas. Xavi: “His style is offensive, of course, but he can adapt if he doesn’t have the ball. In defense he works well.
No naturalization as in the hand
Work well, period. However, there was no other way to bring this small country to an international level. The administrative path that led Qatar to the 2015 World Cup final – won by the Experts – did not apply to football. FIFA has many flaws, but we can recognize that it knows how to supervise the naturalization process. You don’t change your sporting nationality in three years like in handball, and even less after having already worn the shirt of another nation. Thus, only four of the 2019 Asian champions were naturalized.
And if the country ended up deciding to also focus on the children of immigrants due to an unfavorable demographic (only 300,000 “real” Qataris), the first desire was to find the highest level with an exclusively local population. Pierre Lechantre, Qatar coach at the turn of the century quoted by The worldsummarizes the idea by recounting an exchange with a senior executive.
I pointed out that we were limited by demographics, he replied: we want players with 100% Qatari blood. »
Recalling the 1981 Youth World Cup, where Qatar eliminated Brazil and England before failing to overwhelmed Germany (4-0) in the final. A date that inevitably remained in local sporting history.
It is unlikely that Félix Sanchez’s men will repeat the feat of 41 years ago. Two almost impossible to win matches await them and the exit door is already wide open. Too bad, Qatar has learned to be patient with its football team (unless they leave the stands half an hour from the end in case of defeat). An exception that contrasts with the “everything, immediately” on which the small emirate is built and its buildings that grow like palm trees in the middle of the desert.
