Match 1 - Some Good & Some Awkward
Let’s Start With Some Good
It is highly secure. Almost too secure. There wasn’t a single kerfuffle that I saw. There was more security present there than most airports. At times it did feel completely unnecessary, when your ID and ticket are checked five times in about 25 feet, all by people who just saw you get checked, I mean… c’mon. Honestly if you sneak into this game, credit to you. Just a speculating question… is this the easiest gig in the world for a security guard? There’s no alcohol, there’s harsh penalties, huge numbers of personnel, and so many check points… they don’t actually have to “deal” with anyone.
Crowd control was well designed. So many fences and bull pens, you’re switchbacking and funneling to manage flow and honestly it’s pretty well done. A bit excessive, but I’d rather it that way than the opposite. Though unlike recent tragedies which took place in small areas. This stadium is in the middle of just huge parking lots. You could have had 5x as many people attend and there still would have been plenty of space.
Transportation was efficient. They promised metro trains whisking people away from matches every 3 minutes. They were not wrong. The aforementioned crowd control allowed a steady and full, but not overcrowded experience at the entrance. We got back in about an hour. My hat’s off to you. My Careem (Uber/Lyft) equivalent, cost me about $10 to go about 20-30 minutes across the city, he got a bit lost and confused with the security, until he and I gave up and I thanked him, got out, parkoured over a couple low barriers, and just walked the mile to the stadium.
Some Awkward
I passed security, and entered their “fan park” outside the stadium. They have DJ’s full blasting club music, trying to create a night club atmosphere? I had arrived early assuming traffic and ticketing issues. But I got all the way pretty quickly, so I caught the second half of the Netherlands match. Or I tried to. It was a very strange atmosphere. This picture below doesn’t do it justice, but there’s a few hundred people just sitting on the ground, because… there’s nothing to do. The DJ just below to the right of the screen has the speakers to 11, and is trying to hype up the crowd. But why? We’re trying to watch the Dutch and Senegalese play.
And it’s unnerving. It’s like they don’t really believe in the product they paid $300 billion to host (more on that number another time, it’ll be it’s own post). It feels like they think… there’s no possible way thousands of people would just stand here and watch this. Humans like to dance. Let’s play music that I’ve heard they like. Yeah, sure, they’ll find that really fun. They’ll be docile if we give them that fun. Not when it’s so loud I can’t hear myself talk to my friends about if Big Virg wore his One Love armband or not (he didn’t, he and the other captains planning on doing so were threatened with a yellow card at the start of the match if they did, which is very odd. I’d understand (not support) a fine, but a penalty within the match seems very wrong).
I’ve moved the stadium to awkward. After initially seeing it (Ahmed bin Ali Stadium) and being quite impressed, it drops into being cringy because it’s all façade. (also is cringy / cringey not a word? Spellcheck is very unhappy) It gleams in this giant parking lot that was clearly just desert before, with an LED wall that changes colors and glows, and it is clearly expensive. But as you near it, you realize, that there isn’t much more design to that sheen and an outer case. It’s bright and beautiful from a distance, but it’s just blank and boring structural on the interior. There’s no attempt to do anything with it, not a poster on the wall. Because there isn’t actually anything to do outside sit in your seat. As I was watching the match, honestly… I don’t care if your stadium is new or not. If the pitch is adequate for the players, then I’m here for them, not the stadium. Stop bragging that you wasted so much money on it.
There was one concession stand in this part of the stadium. I mean I couldn’t see another, and didn’t feel like walking around because there clearly was nothing to go see (most stadiums I like to take a lap in). First day jitters, sure, service was slow. But it wasn’t moving. They had about the same number of security guards protecting the concession stand than workers manning it. I gave up despite being willing to spend good money (for those who don’t know me. I have a huge pet peeve. If I’m trying to pay you for your product, and you don’t make it easy for me to make that transaction, then I’ll leave. Why should I wait an excessive amount of time for something that I’m already giving you money for? Call it a Millennial needing immediate gratification, but I haven’t eaten in 20 hours. You were upcharging me, and I was okay with it. Make the sale. )
La'eeb, the cute Casper looking mascot. Look, it’s kind of fun. But they have these video displays of La’eeb and all he… she… it? does is honk an air horn on repeat then fly around with a different flag. I mean that’s it. This display sits there, and just constantly honks, at a pitch an old man like me detests, and just plays the same animation over and over again, with a different flag in its hand… claw… wing… grasp. Please stop it. I can still hear the honk honk of the air horn. It’s going to haunt me. Seriously. If I commit a crime here, it’s to mute this thing. I may just lose it and attack the machine with my burner phone (I don’t think I’ve mentioned that yet, I have a burner that has the Qatari apps on it).
Hold on… is Coca-Cola better than Budweiser? Is that true? I mean just from a health standpoint. I try really hard to cut soda out of my diet. It doesn’t work. That darn sugar and taste is really good, so I refrain as much as possible from having it. I’m hard pressed to believe that a Coke a day is better for you than a Budweiser a day. Someone share the research on that. I’m serious. I want to know.
Also, it should be noted, that now that I know how to survey you lot, I will be doing it all the time. Please look forward to that. Or resent it. I dunno what you loony toons are into.
Some Great
It’s still the World Cup… and honestly it’s fun to be an ultra nationalist sometimes, and just cheer on your country in what is just a game and express a healthy amount of pride being a patriot. They claimed 43,418 people attended, of a 44,470 capacity stadium. 97% capacity? I think they’re fibbing. Basically 75% of the corporate areas were empty, and at least a 1,000 Category One’s were empty. But it was loud (at points) and fun (at points). Weah’s goal was excellent. The last fifteen minutes really got good. And I was happy for the Welsh to have something to cheer for (even if the referee was bad and the USA dropped two points).
The fans, on both sides, American and Welsh (my coworker asked why they’re not called Walsh, I didn’t have a good answer), were fun to interact with. Everyone was friendly, and I enjoyed hopping in and out of Welsh groups walking towards the stadium and hearing about their travels, experiences, and meeting their families. Sharing that I hiked Pen y Fan and enjoyed the culinary delights of Brecon Beacons. One Welshman was obsessed that he had met Kevin from American Pie. He showed me pictures and was seemingly appalled that I didn’t immediately recognize him. Could you?
But this is the point. The fans will bring the atmosphere. You’ve gotten them to the place, you’ve secured the area, now stop trying to curate things. Just provide the basics, and let them intermingle and enjoy themselves. That’s all it takes. The footballers are there, you’ve got the stadium, the fans showed up. Now back off. It’s not about you. Not directly, and you’ll gain more from allowing the sport to speak. You aren’t the reason we’re here. The players and the other fans are.
We sing the national anthem at every sports match domestically. It’s nice, I’m a fan, but it was really great to hear Wales’ national anthem. I suppose I had never heard it before. Or not like this. I’ll be honest, it was so passionate my eyes watered. That Red Wall of supporters on the far side of the pitch more than held their own. This is what I came to the World Cup for. There’s a quote I’d like to share from Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle; a character referencing a letter she wrote, “It said a lot of things, because I was very upset about how Americans couldn’t imagine what it was like to be something else, to be something else and proud of it.”
Just mull on that for a moment.
Okay, so something that I really loved, is that it’s very diverse. I probably have been to more soccer matches in Europe than the average American (my guess is a dozen. Wait, I have a spreadsheet of this, hold please. Okay, 18) and they’re generally very white. Locating a World Cup here, is inclusive. A huge population of the world lives in Northern and Eastern Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia. And they are here. Residents have access to a special category of ticket that ranges between a third to a fifth of the cost of the cheapest ticket to an international. And that’s a great thing! I met many locals, who were immigrants to Qatar from South Asia, who were thrilled that they got to watch a World Cup match in person. Others had traveled from the greater region, a once in a lifetime opportunity for them. And they were ecstatic. The lack of traditional Western interest (for very valid reasons), meant that other groups got a rare opportunity to enjoy something that they never thought they could. You can tell that they were not only excited, but proud of this in an area that felt more similar to home.
This World Cup may lack in quality and atmosphere, but after day 1, I really do feel like it took a step closer to being a World Cup. It’s not the one we wanted, grown accustom to, or anticipated, but it nonetheless represents a broader community and further connects us with others than divides us.
Notes
Let’s keep in mind, that this was my first match of the tournament. My roommates had done a double header (because that’s something you can do here) and seen England earlier in the day. My seatmate had gone to the Opening Match yesterday. My opinions are solely based on this first night, and let’s be honest, I was (and still am) incredibly hungry and overwhelmingly relieved that I had actually attended my first World Cup match. So who knows if I’m thinking clearly. I’ll continue to update my views as the weeks roll on. I appreciated John Oliver’s take on it yesterday. And if you only want to watch a minute or so of it, start at 18:30, Nasser Mohammed tells a very poignant take on what this is like. And I can only nod and agree.
Also, they don’t get points for my ticket miraculously working (though from what I hear, many people had issues, especially at the England match earlier in the day), that is a basic thing all events need to do. It’s a core prerequisite. Even Ticketmaster gets that part done.