The fan factor tops them all. Fans are an integral part of ‘the beautiful game’. They make or mar matches, the extent of which varies depending on the degree of their passion and intensity. All that makes football the the largest following sport in the world.
The Qatar Cup semifinals generated thrills ‘n’ frills aplenty among all stakeholders, ranging from players, technical staff, administrators, officials to supporters.
Not just because the tournament involves the top four teams in the QNB Stars League, but also for the build-up and promotional activities initiated by the Qatar Stars League Management, as always. And excitement will definitely be sky-high for the final.
All four semi-finalists — Al Duhail, Al Sadd, Al Rayyan and Al Gharafa — have solid fan base. They turned up at the venue to cheer their teams on, some dressing up for the occasion in club jersey colours.
Al Sadd’s die-hard fan Yousef Yaqoub Hassan expressed optimism that they would win the Qatar Cup this time too. “I wanted Al Gharafa to win as Al Duhail (new QNB Stars League champions) will pose a greater challenge for us in the final despite the fact that they are without Youssef (Msakni).
They’re too strong a side in Asia as well. But I hope Al Sadd will win it this season too as all our players are in good shape at the moment. The runners-up finish in the league was a creditable achievement considering the difficulties we faced during the campaign,” said Yousef.
Al Duhail supporter Zied Ramdan also backed his side to win the final and complete a double. “I want Al Duhail to win all competitions. The final against Al Sadd will only do more good to Qatar football. I’m expecting a tough battle. We had it easy against Al Gharafa in the semifinal because they left too much space between their lines in the second half and lacked co-ordination,” said Zied.
The Al Sadd Stadium, the venue of all three games, sported a new look, quite befitting the occasion. The most noticeable change was the teams’ dugout station which is painted afresh in line with the theme of Qatar Cup.
Fans had more to cheer as the lucky ones owned Toyota cars, given away by Abdullah Abdulghani & Brothers, the dealer of Toyota as well as Lexus cars in Qatar and a sponsor of the Qatar Cup. Business class air tickets and a range of electronic devices are also on offer for fans.
