The host had never lost on the opening day, and that historical tradition was broken in the world more different from all those that have been held. At most, it had tied, like South Africa holding off Mexico in 2010. QatarHowever, he succumbed to his own weakness, proving incapable of even tickling Ecuador. He got a zero in everything: in shots, in well-directed shots and in corners.
The opening match had little glamor, and even the first goal of the tournament had to come from the penalty spot, although the first was actually cancelled. At least, Enner Valencia embellished the night with his second goal, which served to accentuate Ecuador’s enormous superiority, confirming that it is a more powerful team than its history suggests, and that Valencia is its capital footballer: he scored all three goals for the team in the 2014 World Cup and the first two in the remarkable 2022 comeback.
All bad
The vertigo of participating in the opening, an event of unknown dimensions for all footballers, was clearly perceptible. no one could hide the nerves of the premiere. In three minutes there had already been two treacherous fouls (by Pedro Miguel, a Portuguese nationalized in Qatar, and by the Ecuadorian Estupiñán) and a goal with a bad start from the goalkeeper Alsheeb, a bad clearance from him, a bad Chilean kick from Torres and an accurate header from Enner Valencia.
For everything to be bad, even the goal was illegal. And the VAR that canceled it. The play, apparently innocuous, contained an offside that the system detected. The referees’ promise of speed and agility was instantly in vain, yes. More than two minutes elapsed until Daniele Orsato returned the ball to the area.
Qatar, very archaic
And near the Qatari area he ran more frequently than in the visiting team, a concept that only works for Qatar’s three rivals, who will not go beyond the group stage. If they made a poor impression against Ecuador, there are not many expectations of a metamorphosis when they face Senegal or the Netherlands, who complete the day this Monday (7:00 p.m.).
It’s not about what the meta Alshebb will prove calamitous, or that the defensive organization left unthinkable holes in the center despite the fact that it was made up of five men; it is that the construction of the game was archaic, primary, insufficient to surprise the emerging Ecuador that participates in its fourth World Cup in the last five editions.
the robes desert
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Under the Bedouin tent of the spectacular stadium, the stream of light and color from the previous party vanished as soon as football appeared. Neither light in the local game, intermittent in the Ecuadorian game, nor color for the balance that could exist since Valencia nailed the 2-0. The yellow eleven was limited to keeping order to avoid any surprise that would complicate his life. A center that Ali did not reach at the edge of the break was the little scare that exerted alertness.
He painted such a bad night, he twisted so much for the proud Qatari idiosyncrasy, that the stadium emptied after the break. In the same way that the Ecuadorian fans were easily located by the yellow shirts, concentrated behind a goal, the white tunics of the Qatari were scattered throughout all sectors. there was also a cheerleader, imported from the West, dressed in garnet, the other color of the national flag. The half closest to the grass remained faithful. The white robes disappeared from the stands and the red of the seats denounced their desertion before their time.