Under a glaring sun, Qatari men in crisp white thobes and women in black shayla headdresses and abayhas began filing into the spectacular Al Bayt stadium designed to look like the tents used by nomads.
Many of the labourers who toiled to build the eight stadiums will watch from the sidelines unable to afford the highest ticket prices ever for a World Cup but a lucky few will be sprinkled among the well-heeled audience having been gifted tickets by the England soccer team. "We are ready," Hakeem Ahmad told Reuters as he entered the stadium with his wife and two children."Whatever happens on the pitch, the world should look kindly on us today."We hope that after today people will see Qatar in a different light, for who we really are. It is time to talk positively about Qatar."
"Once the first ball is kicked, no one cares if they’re holding this thing on a ceremonial burial ground or powering it with coal," he wrote.That will certainly be the hope of soccer's governing body FIFA and Qatari organisers who have pleaded for critics to focus on the football and not let the sport be dragged into ideological or political battles.
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