Morocco defeat Belgium at FIFA World Cup

Doha: Morocco defeated Belgium 2-0 on Sunday in their second Group H game at FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, at Al Thumama Stadium. Abdelhamid Sabiri and Zakaria Aboukhlal came off the bench to score for the Atlas Lions in minutes 73 and 92 respectively. Energized by a hard-fought draw with Croatia, Morocco showed a high-octane game against Belgium where they dominated most of the proceedings. The win takes Morocco to the group lead with four points. Belgium come second with three points from their sluggish 1-0 victory over Canada in the opening match.

Record attendance at FIFA World Cup as Argentina beat Mexico 2-0

Doha: Argentina defeated Saturday Mexico 2-0 in a Group C match to stay alive in the tournament. Lionel Messi opened the scoring before Enzo Fernandez added another. After losing their opening game to Saudi Arabia, Argentina couldn't have afforded another defeat. The tension was mounting as Mexico frustrated Messi in an attritional game, especially in a first half littered with fouls and stoppages that never allowed Argentina to gain any momentum. But Messi produced a moment of brilliance to turn the tide at the Lusail Stadium. Fernandez, who came on as second-half substitute, scored three minutes before the end of regulation time, and put the game to bed. The masses of Argentina supporters in a crowd estimated at 88, 966 went wild in celebration and relief as their World Cup campaign got back on track. Victory in a tough final Group C game against Poland will send Argentina into the knockout phase.  

Qatar looking for points against Senegal

DOHA: Asian champions Qatar will be looking to pick up their first points on Friday when they face Senegal in their second match at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. On Sunday, Qatar – coached by Felix Sanchez – tripped at the first hurdle when they lost to Ecuador 2-0 in the opening match played at Al Bayt Stadium where 67,000 fans had turned up to watch the Group A clash. Qatar, who will take on the Netherlands in their last Group A match on Nov 29, must first tackle Senegal who incidentally lost the first match against the Dutch on Monday. The second match for Qatar will take place at Al Thumama Stadium where Al Annabi last year faced Algeria in their FIFA Arab Cup clash. Qatar’s attackers Almoez Ali and Akram Afif along with their captain Hassan Al Haydos will have to be firing form to score goals that did not come in the first match on Sunday. This is the first time Qatar are appearing in a World Cup and a win on Friday will be their first at the game’s showpiece event that has brought together 32 teams for the Nov 20-Dec 18 spectacle. Sanchez wants more from his players on Friday. “There’s no excuse, we want to congratulate our opponents, they deserved to win,” Sanchez said after the match. “There is a lot of room for improvement. Maybe the responsibility and nerves got the best of us. We didn’t start well. It was a terrible start, actually. Our nerves betrayed us. “We were unable to string together four passes in a row. Also, many defensive gaps. The team was not balanced and that hurt us a lot. When you play against a team of this level…you pay for it,” the Spaniard added. Senegal, coached by Aliou Cisse, are without their attacking powerhouse Liverpool’s Sadio Mane who pulled out of the tournament injured. In his absence, Senegal struggled to contain the Dutch strikeforce on Monday when they conceded two late goals in the Group A clash. Senegal had only 15 shots at th Dutch goal much to the dismay of Cisse. “We are disappointed to have not scored, we had two or three very good chances,” Cisse told reporters after the match. “We needed to be more effective in front of goal. “Ismaila and Krepin are responsible there, but of course, the absence of Mane is a problem for us… Our attackers are good and we know what they are capable of,” he added. “It was a challenging game… We need to work on it (scoring goals) with Ismaila and the others. We expect a lot from him and Krepin,” Cisse said.  

Team Qatar begin preparations for Senegal showdown

Doha:  Team Qatar started their preparations for their second match against Senegal to be staged on Friday at Al Thumama Stadium. The Qatari team intend to rectify the errors they had demonstrated when it faced Ecuador which ended in a 2-0 loss to Ecuador, and the main concern of all footballers is to reverse the image they had presented in the opener last Sunday to remain within the contest circle and preserve its hope to reach the Round of 16. In addition, the Qatari team conducted its recovery training Monday at Aspire Park venues during which the coaching staff was keen to focus on the physical aspects to restore the physical fitness of all footballers and avoid potential injuries, especially for the main players who played the match and exerted intensive efforts in the shadow of the enormous strength and speed made by the Ecuadorian national team, while no injuries were recorded among the Qatari footballers that could potentially confuse the coaching staff. Coach Felix Sanchez tried with his staff during the training Monday to close the chapter of the loss in the opener and raise the morals in pursuit of restoring the confidence and maintaining the mental status due to the high significance of the coming match in front of Senegal which lose to Netherland 2-0, precipitating the Qatari squad to play with high spirit and enter into reconciliation with the fans who are waiting for more from the team at Al Thumama Stadium.  

FIFA World Cup begins with dazzling opening ceremony

Doha: The opening ceremony of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 at Al Bayt Stadium on Sunday saw the East, with a Qatari flavor, meet the modernity of the West. The ceremony, which came directly ahead of the opening match between hosts Qatar and Ecuador in group A, saw a stunning light show. The World Cup opening ceremony is considered one of the most important events that are aired globally and watched live worldwide. Today's ceremony presented a contemporary global show that carried an important message from Arabs to the whole world, extending an invitation to unify humanity, and bridge the gaps between all differences based on race, culture, color and nationality through acceptance, respect and coexistence, with the World Cup serving as one tribe connecting peoples and the earth as a homeland for all. The show fused Qatari traditions with the global culture through seven dazzling performances. The ceremony symbolically presented two bridges made of light, representing the significance of connecting the people's vastly distanced ideologies through dialogue and understanding to reach coexistence. The first performance in the ceremony, entitled The Call, presented cinematic scenes of the response to a call from the sound of 12 strikes from a Golden Mortar by a Qatari woman. The sound, which calls for unification, is followed by a whale shark that the Qatari coasts are famous for, emerging from the sea and flying over an Arab land and desert. The rhythm of the mortar, which symbolizes Arab hospitality, roams the five corners of the earth, so travelers hear the long-awaited call and begin their journey to connect together in Qatar at Al Bayt Stadium. As the familiar sound of the mortar reverberates inside a tent, three Qatari women, in Qatari traditional dress, stand beside their camels. Then, Qatari artist Dana's voice is widely heard across the stadium while singing her I wish I were a Tent, inspired by a folkloric song from the Gulf region. The scene highlights the hardships of the journey, the beauty of being connected, and the sufferings of those waiting for their loved ones. Then two luminous bridges appear and a globe forms under the feet of the travelers who wear clothes reflecting their diversified cultural heritage and races. The first performance presented several symbols with each one carrying a specific meaning, with the mortar symbolizing Arab hospitality and the 12 strikes representing Qatar's 12-year preparations for the World Cup.  The whale shark was selected as Qatar is considered to be a home to one of the largest whale shark congregations in the world. Whale sharks are also seen as gentle giants, with their white spots signifying optimism. The second performance entitled To Know One Another, in which legendary actor Morgan Freemen talks with Qatar's Ghanem Al Muftah, who represents the new generations in the region, each of them standing on a lit bridge that expresses different points of view and different opinions. The two sides get engaged in a high level dialogue where misconceptions, that lead to applying double standards and hasty judgments, are corrected through dialogue which refers to the Qur'anic Ayah " O mankind, indeed We have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another". The two bridges get united by a visual display symbolizing acceptance, respect and coexistence. The performance ends with the Hala song indicating welcome, during which all performers gather in a symbolic formation exalting equality. Started with the Qatari Ardah, the third performance in the opening ceremony, The Rhythm of the Nations, was entirely devoted to celebrating football fans from all over the world. As a tribute to the true heart of the sport, the fans, the most famous national team chants from 32 participating countries have been brought together in a colorful and contemporary performance for the first time in World Cup history. The chants coincide with the entry of aesthetic and festive elements, starting with the flags of the countries and the jerseys of the teams participating in the tournament. Then the real heroes, the fans from all 32 countries who are present at Al Bayt Stadium, are highlighted. In the fourth performance Football Nostalgia, past World Cups and their host nations were celebrated through a musical performance that blended memories that resonate with football fans non-fans alike from all over the world, set to a musical beat with geometric visual floor projections in perfect sync with the performers. The screens at Al Bayt Stadium displayed the most memorable moments in the past World Cups editions mixed with artistic elements such as the mascots of the 10 official World, in an embodiment of the idea of the animated mini-series The World of Mascots that was released for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. In the fifth performance, the Official mascot of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Laeeb emerges with the music of Dreamers, a song performed by Alicia Keys, Qatari Singer Fahd Al Kubaisi and the Korean artist Jung Kook of BTS. Qatar's story with football was told in the sixth performance, entitled Dream through a visual historical narrative that shows how the dream was rooted in the heart of this country from the beginning, and then culminated in hosting some of the biggest events in the world, including the World Cup. At the end of the video, HH the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani hands a jersey to HH the Father Amir to autograph it as a symbol of legacy. Footage from this historical video was displayed for the first time, showing HH the Father Amir and a group of his friends who have contributed to building this country were playing football. The opening ceremony was wrapped up by the seventh performance, entitled Here and Now where the official logo of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 logo rose from the field to the height of 15 meters. at the end of the ceremony, the various elements of the ceremony come together: team jerseys, tournament mascots, actors and performers with a selected group of fans from all over the world, reliving the feeling of celebrating the championship in an absolutely unforgettable way in a spectacular wrap-up, for the sky to get lit by a dazzling firework show. (QNA)  

HH the Amir Opens FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022

Doha HH the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani patronized the opening of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 at Al Bayt Stadium on Sunday evening. HH the Amir announced the opening of the tournament saying: From Qatar, from an Arab country, I welcome everyone to the World Cup 2022. We have worked hard, along with many people, to make it one of the most successful tournaments. We have exerted all efforts and invested for the good of all humanity. Finally, we have reached the opening day, the day that you have been eagerly waiting for. Starting from this evening, and for a period of twenty-eight days, we will follow, and with us the whole world, God willing, the great football festival, in this spacious ambience for human and civilized communication. People of different races, nationalities, faiths and orientations will gather here in Qatar, and around screens on all continents to share the same exciting moments. How beautiful it is for people to put aside what divides them in order to celebrate their diversity and what brings them together at the same time. I wish all the participating teams a magnificent football performance, high sportsmanship, and a time full of joy, excitement and delight for you all. And let there be days that are inspiring with goodness and hope. Welcome and good luck to all. The opening ceremony was attended by HH the Father Amir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, HH Personal Representative of HH the Amir Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al-Thani, HH Sheikh Abdullah bin Khalifa Al-Thani, HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al-Thani, HE Sheikh Jassim bin Khalifa Al-Thani, HE Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al-Thani, HE Speaker of the Shura Council Hassan bin Abdullah Al Ghanim, and a number of Their Excellencies Sheikhs and Ministers. The opening ceremony was also attended by Their Majesties, Highnesses and Excellencies leaders of sisterly and friendly countries, heads of delegations and Olympic committees and federations, and Their Excellencies heads of the diplomatic missions accredited to the State, senior sports officials, and a large crowd of the fans. The ceremony began with cultural performances present important aspects of the history of the State of Qatar and the Arab countries in celebrating and honoring the guests, in a symbolic sign of Qatar welcoming all fans from around the world. The ceremony also included videos about the marine and terrestrial culture that distinguished the inhabitants of the Arabian Peninsula, and their communication with the world from through the sea. Artistic performances highlighting the values of respect, acquaintance and learning from differences between peoples were also presented during the ceremony, in an invitation to converge cultures and spread love and goodness among people during the tournament; in addition to performances welcoming Qatars guests, fans and qualified teams, and other performances about important moments in the history of football and peoples passion for it. HH the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani witnessed the championship opening match between Qatar national football team and Ecuador, which ended in a 2-0 victory for Ecuador. (QNA)