World Cup: Super Eagles absent as 32 national teams compete for honour in Qatar

In what appears as a painful reality of non-appearance of green- white-green flag of Nigeria from the World Cup in Doha, Qatar, on Sunday, millions of football loving Nigerians watched in disbelief, the opening ceremony of the global football fiesta without the presence of the Super Eagles of Nigeria.

 

The development was sequel to the inability of the Super Eagles to qualify for the tournament in spite of the availability of talented players.

The Super Eagles lost the chance to be in Qatar when the Black Stars of Ghana defeated Nigeria with a lone goal at the MKO Abiola Stadium in Abuja.

 

But the failure of the Super Eagles to qualify for the competition is a big loss to the country and the stakeholders as Nigeria will miss the largesse from FIFA because the national team it is not in Qatar.

 

The first implication is that we have to wait for another four years before Nigerian players can showcase their talents at football’s showpiece event.

 

Secondly, the absence of Super Eagles in Doha, Qatar, indicates that Nigeria will lose about N4billion earnings from the global fiesta.

 

FIFA also disclosed in a statement that winners will receive whooping $42 million, the highest figure a winning federation will ever receive.

 

France received $38million after they won the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

 

According to FIFA, the earnings are as follows: World Cup winner: $42 million (more than 40 million euros), runners-up: $30 million (almost 29 million euros), third-place team: $27 million (almost 26 million euros), fourth-place team: US$25 million (nearly 24 million euros).

 

Teams ranked from fifth to eighth will get $17 million each (more than 16 million euros), which is $68 million in total, while teams ranked ninth to 16 will get $13 million per team (nearly 12.5 million euros), amounting to $104 million in total.

 

It is also important to note that the 17th placed team to the last team at the Mundial will get $9 million per team (almost 8.5 million euros), which is $144 million in total.

 

FIFA further disclosed that the amount of $10,000 per day will be multiplied by the number of days each player will stay at the World Cup, starting two weeks before the opening match and ending one day after his national team’s last match.

 

It added that the total amount will be distributed to the clubs with which the player has been registered during the last two years prior to the World Cup.

 

Nigeria absence from the World Cup will also affect advertisements by major advertisers in newspapers, radio and television stations.

 

Another casualty from non-appearance of Super Eagles in Qatar is the sponsorship of sports journalists by multinational corporations and public spirited individuals who love football.

 

With the absence of Nigeria from the tournament, most sponsors will be reluctant to sponsor sports journalists and football lovers.

 

It is also instructive to state that government officials and important dignitaries who usually travel to World Cup venues to watch Nigeria will be unwilling to do so in the absence of Super Eagles.

 

But the month-long World Cup in football finally began on Sunday with host nation Qatar facing Ecuador.

 

The Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor, 50 kilometers (31 miles) outside of Doha, was built to resemble a Bedouin tent, and it is where the first World Cup to be held in the Arab world kicked off.

 

Incidentally, Ecuador scored 1-0 against Qatar during a penalty kick 17 minutes after the game started.

 

Five minutes into the game, Ecuador scored against Qatar, but it was cancelled for offside by VAR.

 

But Enner Valencia scored the opening goal of the tournament against the host nation Qatar by converting from the penalty spot after the VAR had controversially overturned his first goal.

 

At the Al Bayt Stadium, the South Americans were in complete control and had doubled their lead by halftime due to another goal from the former West Ham striker.

 

Qatar also became the first home national team to lose their opening World Cup match as Ecuador whipped the host country with a 2-0 victory.

 

The Asian champions, Qatar, enjoyed the backing of the majority of the crowd at the 60,000-capacity Al Bayt Stadium, but could not follow a glitzy opening ceremony with a statement performance.

 

Qataris fans react

Thousands of Qatari fans had left their seats by the middle of the second half of Sunday’s World Cup opener, heading for the exits even as their team was struggling to find a way to overturn a 2-0 halftime deficit.

 

Outside the stadium, Ahmed al Moslemani and his friend Abdulaziz Al Ashgar were among those who called it a night early; they had headed toward their car before the referee restarted the second half.

 

“We are exhausted,” said Al Moslemani, explaining that he had to leave his home extra early so he could arrive at the Al Bayt Stadium ahead of the afternoon opening ceremony, which began at 5.30pm local time. Besides, he said, he was hungry and the food and beverage offerings inside the arena were thin.

 

Al Ashgar said he was disappointed with Qatar’s performance, too. “It was terrible, not enough,” he said. “Just terrible from our team.”

 

The large swathes of empty seats in the second half summed up the Qatar soccer team’s disappointing start to its first ever World Cup.

 

The night started with more than 67,000 mostly Qatari fans filling the cavernous Al Bayt Stadium, enjoying an opening ceremony that showcased the tiny Arab emirate to a global audience 12 years after winning the right to host soccer’s biggest event.

 

“I would say we felt bad (for our supporters),” Qatar coach Felix Sanchez said. “I hope in the next game they will be prouder.”

 

The match took place after a colorful 30-minute opening ceremony — fronted by Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman and attended by powerful dignitaries including Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — that promoted inclusivity and mankind living “under one tent.”