Whether Argentinian or not, the vast majority of fans in Qatar are behind Messi and his teammates. On the eve of the final, the Blues seem to have lost the twelfth man of the match.
Mohammed and Saoud are installed in front of a food truck, slumped on plastic chairs. The first wears an Albiceleste jersey, the second the navy blue tunic of the France team. Both, however, have no ties with Buenos Aires or Paris: they are Saudis. “I fell in love with Zidane in 1998 and since then I have supported France”, Saoud justifies himself in the face of our puzzled gaze, when his big brother says he has switched to Argentina in the wake of Maradona’s exploits in 1986. In the streets of Meshreib, a brand new pedestrian eco-district in Doha, Saoud says, forty-eight hours before the World Cup final, an exceptional figure. Around him, the Argentinian jerseys are numerous, those of the invisible Blues. Behind the window of a souvenir shop, we see bathrobes in the colors of several countries. Those of Argentina and Morocco are the storefront. Like a symbol, that of France is relegated to the back of the shop.
“We all support Messi”
“We are all behind Messi. It’s his moment, his World Cup, he deserves to win it, assures Daïana, an Argentinian who arrived in Qatar a month ago with friends to support the sky-and-white. I’m sorry for France, but this one will be for us.” Seated at a café, a Maradona jersey on his back, Carlos makes the same bet: “I don’t think we’re going to win. I am sure of it. I feel it.” The 60-year-old adds, however, that he was at least as confident before the 2014 final, which his team lost to Germany (1-0).
Already present in numbers in Doha, filling entire stadiums on their own, the Argentinians also benefit from the support of fans from the rest of the world. According to a wet-finger survey, one in two South Asian workers come across Freed since the start of the World Cup said to support the Albiceleste. The rest fall back on Brazil or Portugal. In the streets of Meishreb two days before the final, this ratio is close to 100% for Argentina. “We all support Messi, he is a leader, he thinks of others, we want to see him win,” exclaims a Kuwaiti, specifying nevertheless to have had “a vision” in which France won on Sunday evening. After taking a selfie in front of a replica of the Copa America, installed in a stand of the South American Football Confederation, Sully, originally from Oman, says he too “dream that Messi wins one before the end of his career”.
“Psychological advantage”
“It is clear that we will be alone against everyone on Sunday. This was already the case against Morocco and it is not necessarily a bad thing: the players transcend themselves in this kind of context. laughs Cédric, the only Frenchman to meet on Friday afternoon. The quadra with the black and white beard takes advantage of the days separating the half of the final to visit Doha. He explains that he only arrived in Qatar on the eve of the match against Morocco, unlike the majority of the (rare) French supporters, who have been present since the start of the competition: “I had booked tickets for the last four six months ago which were only valid if France qualified. But to be honest, I didn’t really believe it with all these injuries. I hadn’t even blocked this week in my schedule!
But in Qatar, the team of Didier Deschamps resumed colors and Cédric regained confidence in his Blues. The eighth of 2018, won against Argentina, offers them elsewhere “a significant psychological advantage”, he analyzes. But whether or not there is victory on Sunday, the one who lives in Brussels today considers himself above all varnished to live at such a prosperous time for French football. Far from his first memories of the France team, when “She was losing in the semis or couldn’t even qualify for the World Cups.” “I don’t know if young people realize this, but we are living in an incredible period.”