Saturday evening, November 5th. A dog barks while another dog howls in the distance. They drown out an anthem from the loudspeakers in the Marbella training complex.
Qatar plays with the Panamanian national team here, but this is no ordinary international game (apart from the national anthems). fans are missing. TV crews are not allowed in. Scouts from Orange, Ecuador or Senegal? you are not wanted
If you want to see the Qataris for a moment, you should lie down in the bushes or look through the cracks in the stone fence.
Qatar vs Panama is the penultimate match in preparation for an unprecedented World Cup. Where Orange can prepare for the World Cup in just one week, the Qataris have been in a training camp away from home for six months.
There was a flight from Doha to Marbella. From Marbella to Austria. From Austria to Marbella and earlier this week the players returned to Qatar.
It all started in June, when the country’s best players were owned by the federation. Since then, only one thing has mattered: a successful World Cup with players fully prepared tactically and physically.
26 practice games
Evaluation of NOS shows that Qatar has certainly not been idle in recent months. The country trained against 26 opponents (eleven wins, eight draws, three losses and four unknowns).
The games took place as under the radar as possible. Competitors were flown in for practice matches behind closed doors. Contractual arrangements were also made to keep the fans at home and to take and distribute photos.
Let’s go back three months to take a closer look at Qatar’s training months. Currently, the football players of the small oil state are stationed on the eastern border of Austria, where many training games are held.
bell jar
“We were all surprised when we heard that we could play with a World Cup team,” said Jakub Mihálik of Slovak minor league club FC ŠTK 1914 Šamorín.
Suddenly the bell rang. Whether Šamorín wants to play a match against Qatar.
Marketing for the Slovakian club, Mihálik immediately considers himself rich. Videos on social media, interviews in newspapers, commercial products: he can already imagine PR.
But it’s not working. Qatar does not want this. It was all about a game ten days ago.
“Then Qatar played against a fifth division club from Slovakia,” laughs Mihálik. “versus TJ Partizán Domaniža, a club from a village of about 1,600 people.”
They would know that in Qatar. Where a silent duel was to be expected, Domaniza’s amateurs had other plans. Buses brought hundreds of fans to the match, accompanied by news reporters. A live broadcast has been set up for those who stay at home.
“You underestimated that,” Mihálik says dryly. Slovak Polish is a bit too much for Qatar. To avoid duplication, there are short films in Šamorín that fans, TV crews and live broadcasts do not allow.
“We have been asked not to broadcast or record anything ourselves. We were able to take some pictures after that because they brought all kinds of cameras. four of them. There were also two people filming with drones.”
Mihálik suspects that the match against Šamorín (3-0 win) was primarily a tactical test for Qatar. “They seemed to be trying out certain strategies for the World Cup. I don’t know exactly, but it looked a bit like that.”
Qatar does not organize long shows, hotels and training facilities on its own. The Austrian SLFC is important. This company must ensure the smooth progress of preparations on European soil.
Organizing practice matches against anyone? It is up to SLFC to accomplish this. All records are being taken for Qatar’s request for match minutes.
FC Pitzgau Saalfelden, TSV McDonald’s St. Local low-flyers like Johann, FC Eurotours Kitzbühel or TSU Bramberg: All played against Qatar. Fiorentina will compete in B-selections from Ghana and Jamaica alongside well-known teams like Udinese Lazio Roma, RCD Mallorca and Antwerpen.
According to the Qatar Football Federation, “a number of offers have been submitted” for friendly matches. It is unknown which teams are involved. In any case, Ajax, located at a training camp a few kilometers from Qatar, says it has not been investigated in a response.
After the summer months in Austria, he returns to Marbella, Qatar. There, the final scores for the World Cup opening match against Ecuador will be placed on the i by mid-November.
“We will continue to train hard and play a few more matches in the coming weeks,” national coach Felix Sánchez told the Qatari press. “We will analyze our game and see where we can improve. This will be our final touch before the World Cup.”
In recent weeks, team after team has been brought to Marbella to compete in semi-official exhibition matches. Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama and Albania: all these countries flew miles for competitions behind closed doors.
The national anthem will be played, but no spectators will be allowed. These games are also not published anywhere, so that the fans on social media do not understand. A talent scout who wanted to attend a match in Marbella says his attempt was unsuccessful.
According to a representative from the Albanian federation, the main purpose of secrecy in these games is not to reveal tactical decisions ahead of the World Cup. Agreements were made in writing.
It remains unclear why teams are willing to go this far for a practice match. “Compensation has been paid,” says the Albanian federal official, who refuses to disclose the amount. It leaves it in the middle.
Source: NOS
I’m George Gonzalez, a professional journalist and author at The Nation View. With more than 5 years of experience in the field, I specialize in covering sports news for various print media outlets. My passion for writing has enabled me to craft stories that capture the attention of readers all over the world.
