Twelve years it has taken the ball to roll in Qatar. Since the emirate was designated as the venue in 2010 until the opening whistle of Orsato, this Sunday at the Al Bayt stadium in Al Khor, the wait has been eternal. The road has not been easy. Corruption, human rights, equality... Criticism of Qatar has been fierce, pushing football into the background. But, finally, the true protagonists of the World Cup, the soccer players, dressed in shorts and asked to pass through so much smoke. And Ecuador took the first win of the tournament, as well deserved as it was simple, against a Qatari team that points out ways for FIFA to reconsider some things.
The host team, led by a Barcelonan like Félix Sánchez from the bench, did not measure up, and cast many doubts about his future, in which the Netherlands and Senegal await him, who have all the signs of passing over him without any kind of blush or opposition. We will have to wait and see how they digest the defeat and if they learn from their mistakes, which were many during the match against Ecuador.
Nor did the Qatari fans seem to digest the poor performance of their team too well, who left the stadium en masse at half-time, already 0-2 on the scoreboard, in an undisguised act of impotence. Almost a quarter of the stands were empty in the second half, a far cry from the beautiful image he had offered at the opening ceremony just two hours earlier.
At the moment, what cannot be rewritten is the past, and Qatar suffered the first defeat of a host team in its World Cup debut in the entire history of the World Cup, a tournament that was held for the first time in 1934, almost a year ago. century.
The other side of the image is that of Ecuador, drawn with the goals of Enner Valencia. The veteran attacker from Fenerbahçe deserves a separate chapter when it comes to talking about his relationship with the World Cup. He made his debut in the 2014 edition in Brazil, scoring three goals in the three games he played. Four years later, he was unable to add to his tally in Russia following Ecuador's failure to qualify. But yesterday, at his debut in Qatar, he did not waste the opportunity and added another two goals to his account in just over half an hour, raising his goalscoring average in the World Cup to more than respectable figures. With a quarter of an hour to go, with some physical problems, he left the pitch to the cheers of his enthusiastic fans.
It did not take long for the meeting to reveal its secrets. Specifically, three minutes. The time it took for the goalkeeper Saad to go out to hunt butterflies, as the Italians so well describe, and Valencia to find the net with a header. The goal ended up not going up on the scoreboard due to a millimeter offside, which the new FIFA system took a few seconds to resolve. But it was very prescient.
Ecuador's dominance over green was indisputable and Qatar's weakness was increasing. Each good control, each pass well given, was chanted by the stands as if it were a goal. It was not something worthy of a World Cup. Quite the opposite of Valencia, who forced a penalty after a quarter of an hour that he himself converted. Once again, the man from Fenerbahçe rose to the final goal 0-2 after half an hour in the lead. The only local response was a header from Almoez in added time, which would have spiced up the second half.
Faced with little opposition, Ecuador adjusted its forces after the break, causing the false impression that the game was a bit even. Qatar took the opportunity to regain some self-esteem with a couple of shots from Almoez and Pedro Miguel, and the fans who were holding out in the stands appreciated the effort. But the first victory of the World Cup traveled to Ecuador.
0 - Qatar: Al Sheeb; Khoukhi, Hatem, Hassan; Pedro Miguel, Hisham, Boudiaf, Ahmed; Alhaydos (Waad, m.71); Afif, Ali (Mutari, m.72).
2 - Ecuador: Galindez; Precious, Towers, Hincapié, Stupid; Plata, Mendez, Caicedo (Rodriguez, m.91), Ibarra (Sarmiento, m.68); Valencia (Cifuentes, m.76), Estrada (Franco, m.91).
Goals: 0-1, m.16: Valencia (p). 0-2, m.31: Valencia.
Referee: Daniele Orsato (ITA). He admonished the locals Al Sheeb, Ali, Boudiaf and Afif, and the visitors Caicedo and Méndez.
Incidents: Inaugural match of the World Cup in Qatar, group A, played at the Al Bayt stadium before some 60,000 spectators, including the main soccer authorities and some world leaders.
