A fully packed Khalifa Stadium witnessed a pulsating semi-final of the FIFA Club World Cup on Wednesday between European champion Liverpool and CONCACAF Champions League winners Monterrey. The much anticipated first match of current Premier League favourites Liverpool went beyond the expectations of the crowd as Monterrey was not in a mood to give the British champions an easy walkover.
The hard-fought narrow win will give the Reds a chance to try and win the one silverware they don’t have in their cabinet, when they meet the Brazilian club Flamengo.
While the match won the heart and minds of 45,000 plus football fans inside the stadium, it also gave Qatar an opportunity to fine tune its organisational capabilities and test the readiness well ahead of biggest football extravaganza, FIFA World Cup, comes home. In three years, Qatar will be hosting thousands of visiting fans and players and holding the Club World Cup is one step closer to that.
Going by the reactions of fans, who attended the Liverpool match on Wednesday, it went on very smoothly and the fan zones were much appreciated.
An added advantage was the opening of all Doha Metro lines and stations ahead of the tournament. This made commuting to and from the Khalifa International Stadium very easy as it is located at walking distance from the station. This cut down any chance of possible traffic disruptions in the area as families could be seen taking the metro instead of their cars.
The metro not only extended the timing of the operation in view of the Cup World Cup match and Qatar National Day (QND) celebrations, it also gave free day pass to match ticketholders. The trains were running full, from morning, as majority of people decided to travel by metro to attend the parade and other QND celebrations held at various parts of the country.
The well-connected network of Doha Metro means fans coming for the World Cup in 2022 will be able to even watch multiple matches in a single day. It also means easier access to various landmarks and residential areas. The compactness will be a big advantage for the fans as they will save a lot in time and money as travel time between venues and other entertainment hubs will be much shorter and cheaper than in a bigger country.
Every such tournament gives a lot of learning experience for everyone and helps fine tune future ones even better. Like legendary player David Beckham said, Qatar 2022 will be a dream for players and fans.
