As Lautaro Martínez converted the last penalty against the Netherlands and qualified Argentina for the semi-final of the World Cup, former striker and English commentator Chris Sutton turned on his microphone from BBC radio 5 Live, from England.
“I am ecstatic for the Argentine fans. They deserve to qualify. They have made this World Cup worthwhile,” he said.
Walking through the streets of downtown Doha, the capital of Qatar, is like bumping into fans from the South American country from different social classes and backgrounds.
“Do you know where I can watch the game? I don’t find any television on here”, he asked the Sheet an Argentine sitting on the wall of Boulevard de Lusail, a few meters from the stadium where his national team would face the Netherlands in the quarterfinals, last Friday (9).
Faced with the indication that he would have to go to some downtown restaurant or FIFA Fan Fest, he nodded in agreement.
Ezequiel Carmeni, 37, arrived in Doha before the game against Poland that would define the classification for the round of 16. Alviceleste won and would repeat the feat against Australia in the round of 16, before overcoming the Dutch in the penalty shootout.
He will leave on December 19, the day after the final that Argentina could have. For that, it is necessary to beat Croatia, this Tuesday (13), in the same Lusail stadium. But fans from Tucumán, in the interior of the country, did not go to any matches in the arenas. It has no tickets.
“I already knew it would be like this. I just want to be close to the team.”
In recent days, the organization of the World Cup has sent banners to journalists warning about a “flag” on the Corniche, a six-kilometer road next to the bay of Doha. It was an event to bring together fans of Lionel Messi’s national team, with, of course, flags, bass drums, shouts of encouragement and songs.
It is unheard of that those responsible for the tournament promote the meeting of a single crowd close to the final. This happens by the same conclusion that Chris Sutton reached.
The Argentine fans have been doing the World Cup.
Before the debut (with defeat) against Saudi Arabia, the government of the South American nation estimated at 40,000 the number of tourists who traveled to Qatar to follow the World Cup.
Every week there are spontaneous “bandeiraços”, marked by the initiative of small groups, via social networks or WhatsApp, which bring together thousands of fans. Attending not only Argentines, but immigrants who support Messi’s team.
Gatherings were usually scheduled for Souq Waqif, the traditional market in the center of the capital of Qatar, with its narrow streets and little space for movement. This drove police and security guards crazy.
“People ask how can there be so many Argentines in Qatar, an expensive country, when we are in the midst of an economic crisis. There are people who do crazy things to see the team at the World Cup. And they are real fans, used to going to stadiums So the weather in games looks the same as La Bombonera or Monumental [de Núñez]”, says Juan Bergés, 46.
A trader in Buenos Aires, he says he has saved money for the last four years, since returning from the 2018 tournament in Moscow to travel to Qatar. Unlike Ezequiel, he has tickets for all games, including the final, which will also be at the Lusail stadium.
“I know people of all financial conditions you can imagine. There are those who are in luxury hotels and others who sleep I have no idea where because they have almost no money to eat. Honestly, I don’t know why they came here. But came,” he adds.
There were also fans who linked Maradona’s death to the obligation to go to Qatar.
Publicist Facundo Minguez, 34, claims to have decided to go to the World Cup on November 25, 2020, when the idol died of a heart attack.
“I already had the experience with my father of going to the tournament in 2006 and it was Messi’s first. In 2022 it’s the first without Diego. I think it’s a tribute to his memory being here”, he says, accompanied by his son Nicolás, 10. , which is in its first Cup.
Both shared last week, in Souq Waqif, the first flag
Before the Cup, the Argentine government sent Qatar a list with the names and data of 6,475 fans who are part of the so-called “right of admission”. All have a history of violence, are prohibited from entering stadiums in South America and should be prevented from entering the country of the Cup.
Last week, the Ministry of Security recognized that around one hundred of them managed to travel to Qatar and are accompanying the World Cup.
“I don’t know how they got in. It’s the Qatari government that decides who issues the hayya card [documento que serve como visto de entrada]🇧🇷 I don’t know how it worked, and many people were denied entry,” Guillermo Nicolás, the Argentine ambassador to Qatar, told Radio La Red in Buenos Aires.
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