QATAR AGAINST THE WORLD
The sandals rained down on Qatar striker Almoez Ali, bringing his impromptu, hip-swinging celebration to an abrupt halt. Ali had just scored the most important goal of his career to put Qatar 2-0 up against the hosts, the United Arab Emirates, in the 2019 Asian Cup semi-final. Home fans in Dubai didn’t share his glee, and responded by angrily flinging their footwear in his direction.
While Qatar won the tournament a few days later, that semi-final humbling – it ended 4-0 – was, for many Qataris, sweeter than the 3-1 win over Japan in the final, after 20 months of geopolitical tension between Qatar and their Gulf neighbours, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE. In June 2017, diplomatic ties were severed, flights between the countries cancelled, citizens expelled. It was ugly, and remains so.
For those familiar with Qatar only as a football financial powerhouse, it might be difficult to imagine the country that has bankrolled Paris Saint-Germain to the tune of billions as an underdog. However, playing at a tournament as a regional pariah, with your supporters unable to attend and the national anthem jeered ahead of every match... well, suffice it to say, the odds were stacked against them.
Although that triumph was certainly no fairy tale, it was nonetheless a remarkable achievement for Felix Sanchez Bas and his players, who were unfancied outsiders at best ahead of the Asian Cup.
“The semi-final was the most difficult game I’ve faced in my career,” coach Sanchez tells today. “The political issues made it more sensitive, but during the whole tournament we always tried to keep the players’ focus on
