FIFA World Cup: Qatar realise what money can't buy - a good football team

Doha: Around nine pm, Netherlands’ Jurrien Timber was clutching his shirt and some Ecuador players sank to the ground, praying to the Gods. Following an absorbing contest, they shared the points, with the game finishing 1-1 .

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The result was seismic for a different reason: after a twelve-year build-up and 180 minutes, hosts Qatar were out of their own World Cup, the first team to be eliminated at this edition. Earlier in the day, Qatar had slumped to a 3-1 defeat to Senegal .

“The decision to prepare the team by sending it for weeks on training camps in Europe, instead of playing league football, resulted in a team that wasn’t even good enough to compete in a regional tournament like the Gulf Cup,” explained Qatari-based football journalist Mohamed Gharbawy.

“Felix Sanchez used the 5-3-2 from the Ecuador match and left possession to Senegal. He should have played for possession, and given more players a chance. It showed that he didn’t trust the players on the bench.”

For years, Qatar had been grappling with how to build a competitive team for the World Cup. As is abundantly clear, money has never been an object. Stakes in Barclays, Heathrow, Harrods, Siemens, Deutsche Bank and Volkswagen? No problem. Ownership of Paris Saint-Germain? No problem. The World Cup? No problem, and let’s spend $220 billion to make it happen, super-accelerating the development of Doha. There is very little that money can’t buy, but it can’t solve a simple problem: how do you become good at football?

Host nation Qatar are the FIRST team to get eliminated from the 2022 World Cup! 🇶🇦 pic.twitter.com/vCWK1a3vfi

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) November 25, 2022

Qatar had a simple, but expensive solution: build a state-of-the-art training complex and invest.

On the outskirts of Doha, the Aspire campus forms an oasis of green and rest. There are pristine football fields - rumour has it that the grass is sometimes cut with actual scissors - a huge multipurpose dome with indoor facilities and, adjacent, the landmark torch, a 300-meter-tall skyscraper hotel that served as the focal point of the 2006 Asian Games. It’s one of a few green spots in the Qatari capital.

The 45,000-seater Al Khalifa International Stadium is the centrepiece of the Aspire complex, the venue where the Netherlands and Ecuador ultimately eliminated Qatar from the tournament.

Everything at Aspire is shiny. On the best of days, you can find a variety of youth teams training. In winter, European top clubs camp, including Bayern Munich. An ambassador for Qatar’s World Cup, Bora Milutinovic tends to hang around and entertain visitors with his knowledge of the global game. He even invites them for a coffee or a game of chess.

Above all, the Aspire Academy represents Qatar’s aspirations on the global stage in a tangible fashion: it was at the heart of building a national team. No expenses were spared. No one knows the exact figure, but news agency Reuters cites a figure of $1.3 billion.

Senegal becomes the first African country at the World Cup to win a game, they beat host Qatar 3-1.

They are the reigning African champions for a reason 🤗 pic.twitter.com/qKWddJCAsD

— Thierry Nyann 🇬🇭 (@nyannthierry) November 25, 2022

It was established by Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, the football-mad brother of Qatar’s ruling Emir. The goal was to produce two national team players per age level, according to former youth coach Sebastian Brauch.

“Aspire is the key behind the success of the national team,” explains Gharbawy, “Qatar brought in the best coaches, again starting from scratch but with the best scientists and facilities. In 2006, Felix Sanchez arrived from La Masia.”

With his experience from one of the most hallowed schools of football, the Spaniard built a new team, winning the U-19 Asian Cup, Qatar’s first-ever continental title in 2014. Of course, he didn’t do it without Aspire’s help.

Qatar had 12 years to prepare.

They built the Aspire Academy at a cost of $1.3 billion. Invited players to the country and naturalised them.

Al Sadd got Xavi to play at an annual salary of £8.5 million then become a coach of most of this national team..#Qatar2022 pic.twitter.com/C4x9mXpcdl

— Cash N Sport (@CashNSport) November 20, 2022

On an industrial scale, the academy scouted for talents across Africa. They looked at millions of kids. ‘Aspire Africa’s original plans included scouting missions in seven African countries — Morocco, Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa, often according to Brauch, a scout as well, ‘in the middle of nowhere.’

Sports giant Nike and Bonus Sports Marketing, a consulting firm founded by former Barcelona president Sandro Rosell, were involved and the chosen ones were flown to the Aspire campus in Doha. The program was expanded and ‘Aspire Dreams’ included Latin America.

On Aspire’s website, it reads: “Between 2007 and 2014, more than 3.5 million kids have been screened in 17 countries, with 18 to 20 scholarships awarded each year.” Elsewhere, the website states: “By 2020, recognised as the world’s leading sports academy in the development of youth athletes.”

Qatar are the first host nation to lose multiple group stage games in a single World Cup 😳 pic.twitter.com/DGCiRobl7s

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) November 25, 2022

In 2014, Akram Afif, Almoez Ali, Tarek Salman, Assim Madibo, Salem Al-Hajri and goalkeeper Youssef Hassan were all part of Sanchez’s successful U-19 team.

Five years later that generation went on to win the Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates. “No one had expected this,” says Gharbawy. “Sanchez refused to take experienced players like Sebastian Soria before the tournament and lost to teams like Curaçao in Doha!”

Qatar’s swashbuckling triumph corroborated and confirmed Aspire’s integrated strategy. Al Annabi’s enterprising play featured the hallmarks of a modern team with a flexible 4-3-3 formation, swift transitions and pressing, resulting in a dynamism that often bamboozled opponents and left them second-best to the ball. Akram Afif, with his assists, and Almoez Ali, the top scorer with nine goals, starred.

But that was Qatar’s peak. They never rekindled that form in the Copa America, the Gold Cup, the European qualifiers and least of all at the World Cup after a months-long preparations.

The World Cup squad included 15 players that won the Asian Cup and 70% are graduates from the Aspire Academy, but their 180 minutes were mismatches and, in embarrassing scenes, their own fans walked out on the team, even with the Emir in attendance. Despite all the investment and resources Qatar, just like in the club game, found that it was not enough.

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