Education City Stadium – Doha – Thursday 24th November 2022 4pm – The FIFA World Cup
As the Switzerland vs Cameroon game entering injury time I headed towards the exit. Google Maps suggested that I had a 59 minute journey from Al Janoub to Education City Stadium, with kick off in 75 minutes – plenty of time you’d think. Welcome to the 2022 World Cup.
You couldn’t walk more than 10 metres outside the stadium without volunteers being on hand directing you in the right direction. Taxis were to the right, buses were to the left. Unbeknown to me at this stage in my trip was that there were stadium to stadium buses and I could have hopped on one that would take me straight to Education City rather than the 10 minute drive to Al Wakra metro station but it was here that I encountered the first of the “Metro This Way” team who basically stood outside a huge above ground train station and constantly told fans that the metro was, in fact, this way. With absolutely nothing else around you bar the train station, it wasn’t exactly rocket science and was mildly amusing the first time, but quickly got incredibly annoying.
The metro was modern and clean. Whilst travel was free using your Hayya Card, one carriage was reserved for “premium” ticket holders – you could buy a ticket to sit in armchair luxury if you wanted. But why would you unless the train was packed? Well, because you could and nobody was going to stop you basically. Seven stops to Msheireb, hop across the platform as the relatively empty green line train arrived and then 8 stops westwards to Education City, a huge education-focused development with the 40,000 capacity stadium (another mysteriously increased to 44,800 during the first week of the tournament) at its heart, constructed with a significant amount of recycled materials, marking it out to be one of the most sustainable in the world.
Whilst the stadium is literally next to the metro station entrance, the soon to be familiar walk around the whole of the outskirts of the stadium ate into the spare time I had factored in before kick off. Finally, I got to the first ticket check point. This was the first game where I would be using a ticket bought from a resale website. Whilst it was in my name, there was a nagging worry that it would flag up that I had just been to a game and thus against FIFA rules. It didn’t set off any alarms and I was through, although once again my sun cream came under close inspection.
The stadium was certainly impressive as you approached it, sparkling in the setting sun. The official, FIFA description is that ‘the facade of the stadium features triangles that form complex, diamond-like geometrical patterns which appear to change color with the sun’s movement across the sky. Like diamonds, the stadium’s design represents quality, durability and resilience – and will become something to be treasured, both for the memories it holds and its future value to the country.’ Quite.
I’d only missed a few minutes by the time I found my seat. It certainly looked fuller than at Al Janoub (official attendance was 41,663, the lowest of the 8 games it would host) aside from the posh seats which were noticeably vacant. The Uruguayans had certainly traveled in numbers and out-numbered the South Korean fans 10:1. In fact aside from the “FIFA sponsored” dedicated “fans” behind the goal, all dressed in identical red shirts, it was a decidedly South American affair with a fair amount of Argentinian and Mexican shirted fans in the crowd.
It wasn’t a classic – South Korea looked dangerous on the break, Uruguay looked to the dark arts to win favour. Neither really worked as the first half ended goal less. It was time to try and find some food. The choices were slightly better than outside the stadiums, with hot dogs, which were average and burgers. The challenge was trying to ask for a bottle of water. I know I have a London accent (‘culturally challenged accent’ as one former boss once said to me) but the word is universally known. After numerous attempts, I gave up and asked for a Coke, a universally accepted word these days.
Uruguay’s game plan was clear. They looked to play over the top of South Korea’s defence at any opportunity, with Liverpool forward Darwin Nunez a threat on the counter-attack with his pace. However, more often than not the ball was cut out by the South Korean defence. The aging Suarez provided very little impact and was replaced by the equally ineffective Cavani with 25 minutes to go. This was most definitely a game where watching the crowd was much more entertaining than watch the game.
Two games down and just one goal seen, it was now time for the easiest journey, or so it seemed, to the Stadium 974 for Portugal’s first game of the tournament against Ghana. The plan to do four in a day was still on….to be continued.
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