USA vs. Wales

Basketball has always been, and will always been my sport. Yet at the University of Tulsa, soccer piqued my attention in 1997. FIFA put out a call for volunteers for the 1998 World Cup in France. As a French major at the time, I was interested, but that volunteer opportunity and World Cup never materialized. My interest in the tournament grew. Yet I wouldn’t attend my first World Cup game until 24 years later when USA vs. Wales faced off.

You Call These Category 2 Seats!?!?

Brazil vs. The Andes

When I actually volunteered, not toying with the idea of serving others but actually doing it, this time with the Christian Brothers in South America, they sent us to language school in Cochabamba, Bolivia. During our time in the Andes, we jumped a seven hour bus towards the heavens and the capital of La Paz to watch a World Cup qualifying game between Bolivia and Brazil. The screaming crowd and searing sting of playing at 12,000 feet enabled the unlikely Bolivian victory. Andean Altitude – 3, Brazil – 1.

The World’s Best

That was fun. International. Sport. A sport the world followed. It sparked an enduring interest in me. To this day, I never follow professional soccer. Yet I do follow the World Cup and teams trying to qualify. There is something about battling to be the best team in the world.

Scooting Around All These Cars

Along the qualifying process for Qatar 2022, the United States Men’s National Team qualified late, but they still earned their ticket to Doha. My first game, USA vs. Wales.

Ahmed Bin Ali Stadium, 0 Emissions

How Are You Getting to the Games?

Living here in Doha, our one concern leading up to the World Cup was the increased traffic due to an expected doubling of people in country. The 12 years leading up to 2022, Qatar invested $220 billion into infrastructure. This investment included a metro system that connected seven of the eight stadiums.

Hours before the first game, Nadine had the ingenious idea of biking to the metro station. It was located less than two miles from our house. So a bike ride and the short metro to the Mall of Qatar seemed like an easy solution past the traffic and crowds.

And that’s just what we did. Jumped on mountain bikes decked out in US jerseys, and leisurely rode to the metro. At the metro, we leaned them up against a bike rack, unlocked, took the metro to Ahmed Bin Ali Stadium.

The game itself was exciting. Not the same environment of that Bolivia vs. Brazil game 24 years ago, but the Wales maintained a consistent Welsh cheer the entire game. Of course they were loud, it had been 64 years since they participated on this world stage. They had pent up energy since 1958. The first USA goal soon quieted their chants in the first half. Unfortunately, Wales tied the game in the last eight minutes on a penalty. In the end, both teams tied, each earning one point. But the USA was the better team.

As in life, I heeded Nadine’s advice. For the majority of the games, I biked to the metro, metro to the stadium, enjoy the game, metro back to my bike, and bike back home . . . around one in the morning.