Meriam Jelliti
Doha
Filled with passion and enthusiasm, hundreds of Qatari supporters took over Msheireb on Thursday and gathered at Al Annabi Village and marched through the downtown area in an energetic ambience, cheering and chanting in support of their national team.
Qataris came together to show solidarity with and express belief in the ability of the Qatari team Al Annabi stars to shine in the ongoing World Cup, promising to stand strong behind the team in the upcoming matches in order to give the players the much-needed motivation and moral support to perform at the best levels and bring honour to their country.
“It is our duty to support our team and this will be a motivation for the players, hopefully, the emotional pressure of the first game will be lifted. I believe our team has a better knowledge now of handling strong teams and playing in front of a large audience, and they no longer have the fear of playing such big matches,” said Jassem Al Sulaiti, one of Al Annabi’s supporters.
Jassem expressed great confidence that Al Annabi will return stronger and better against Senegal in the next match, especially since the Qatari team is used to facing big teams and challenges such as what happened in the Copa America when the Qatari national team faced many international teams and performed excellently regardless of the results.
Another fan spotted with drums chanting eagerly for Qatar said, “We have trust in Al Annabi and its stars, the Asian champions, and we believe they will return stronger in the next two matches against Senegal and the Netherlands. The team is highly capable of winning the next two matches, and we are aware that the players are in need of support at this time which is why we will continue to stand behind our team no matter what.”
He added, “The World Cup gathers the elite football players and teams, and we are ready to show the world that Qatari football has reached high levels, losing is not the end, and the players must be supported better than before in order to make a strong comeback in the tournament. This is the spectators’ time to give the team the needed moral support at this important moment.”
The atmosphere at Msheireb was very special and undoubtedly full of excitement and joy, fans of all nationalities, not only Qataris, joined the festive spirit to motivate the Qatari team in their next matches during the tournament.
One of the upbeat fans is Hamad from Saudi Arabia who said his only wish after Saudi’s great victory is to witness another great victory achieved by Qatar national team.
“If Al Annabi play with focus and without pressure, they will perform better, similar to what we are used to seeing in the last tournaments. We have great hope in the players to make the Qatari fans happy with their performance,” he said.