Qatari Corner Guy (http://farm1.static.flickr.com/)
It was like no other visits to a stadium. Simply because past visits have been to support home teams, or probably countries we reside in. If you have no clue as to what I mean, here I go.
It was Qatar vs. Uzbekistan (World Cup 2010 qualifiers) here in Doha (where I reside). What goes through your mind when you have to chose the team you need to support when none of them has anything to do with your origin? I know the decision is pretty much random, but I decided to cheer for Uzbekistan and sat in their patch. There were very few (sum odd 30) Uzbekis in the whole stadium and my sympathies for the visitors made me support them.
It was somewhat amusing to see the energy of these football enthusiasts. Enthusiasts from all around the world. They don’t have the number one team in the world. Not close to even the top 20. But the spirit was just in the air. I was so sure they travelled thousands of miles just to make sure their team felt they had people who cared for them and wished to see them win the games. I remember the large flags (trust me they were huge, the cloth hit me many a times), the small portable speaker system which the fanatic with the flag painted on his face had, the t-shirts with the most provocative messages and everything that constituted national love. I can still recall the drenched Uzbeki who was wearing nothing but the flag of the country and the one played the drums all the times. Even though the Qataris outnumbered the Uzbekis by around 100 times, these guys were louder. It’s all about the spirit! Felt good watching these guys back their team till the very end. They lost 3-0. But I believe they will still go to the next league match irrespective of what has happened and yell for their nation!
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