Chris (@Chris10Pricey) takes a meander through his memories, back to a strange night watching Qatar versus Wales on grainy TV.
The year is 2000. The Millennium Bug never materialised, Big Brother was about to grip the nation. Anne Robinson was just the nasty woman on The Weakest Link having not slagged us all off yet. And if you had a mobile phone, you were addicted to snake.
New Manager
And in Welsh football, the dawning of a new era. A new full-time manager appointed in Mark Hughes. A sense of optimism growing. Their last international of the 20th Century was played at the Racecourse, a 2-0 defeat to Switzerland with just under 6,000 fans in attendance. By the end of March, Wales were to play their first home game at the newly opened Millennium Stadium with an almost capacity crowd.
Nestled in between these 2 games, is a game that could easily be forgotten, but for the most ardent of Welsh supporter. In 2010, when the decision was made to give hosting of the World Cup to Qatar, and whilst most people were wondering where it was, somewhere in my brain went ‘I’m sure we’ve played them,’ and sure enough, we have. It opened that bizarre Pandora’s Box of memories that only football fans have.
Qatar v Wales
In February 2000, Cymru played against Qatar in Doha, a huge cultural move for both sides. Wales had many trips to Eastern Europe in qualifying, but became one of the first western sides to play in Qatar. For the Qatari’s this was seen as a major coup, bringing over a well-known European sporting nation to play in their home country, having mostly played in the Asian Cup.
The game has lived in my memory for several reasons. As an 11-year-old, this was exciting, we might win the game and give someone a battering. I could only remember Wales winning by a good margin against San Marino in 1996, although I could recount a lot of times we had been battered.
Mark Hughes being a striker would surely employ attacking tactics and we should rack up the goals. Having never heard of Qatar before, they must be rubbish and I remember hearing in the build-up, most of their players were part timers similarly to an FA Cup tie. Having researched the game more, at the time we were 98th in the world (remember that?!) and apparently there were only 9 places between us in the FIFA Rankings. But surely that was only because we were playing better sides.
However, the hammering never materialised. Watching on BBC Wales, it was a throwback to a previous era. The sound was crackly, like down the phone line they used in the seventies. The picture was poor and fuzzy, from an almost impossible camera angle. The stadium had a huge running track around it, meaning it felt like you were watching the game from a car park. This was one for the purists.
The game was delayed by a call to prayer for the Qatari’s and I remember lots of pictures of the Qatari Royalty who were in attendance. Wales played their one and only game in the much fabled, white Lotto shirt with green dragon print, seen by many in the shirt community as a holy grail.
The game was hugely forgetful and if this was certainly not the game to spread to a new audience. The only goal of the game came from half volley by John Robinson from a Gary Speed knockdown, from my memory a goal similar to a lot that we seemed to score at the time. It is so lost in the football timeline, there is no YouTube footage, and reports are difficult to find. Despite the wave of optimism, it would be almost 18 months before Wales next tasted victory.
Looking at the team that night in Doha is probably the most interesting part of this story. After the game Hughes defended his decision to play with a lone striker, claiming he wasn’t being defensive and that we could and should have won by more.
And next …
A vast majority of the squad would make up the almost side of 2002-04 that fell agonisingly short in the Euro 2004 qualifiers. Unfortunately, despite some incredible highs during his tenure, Hughes defensive standpoint would ultimately cost him legendary status. He fell just short of leading Wales to their first major tournament since 1958.
In the team that night, were 3 future managers, in Speed, Coleman and Page, who would go on to play a pivotal role in Wales’ return to Qatar 22 years later. Kit Symons and Matthew Jones both played and now make up part of Page’s coaching staff. There was no way of knowing the journey Welsh football would go on in the next 22 years, but I would love to know their thoughts on playing in Qatar in 2000 and whether they believed at the time Wales would ever return there.
According to reports, the attendance was 2,000 with 17 Welsh fans who had travelled and a few ex-pats there. Knowing how difficult planning a trip to Qatar in 2022 is, it must have felt like mission impossible back in 2000. The Youtube footage I could find paints a very different picture of Qatar to what it is now.
Welsh fans are incredible, rightfully recognised around the world, but I’d love to know more about those 17 fan’s experiences and why they made the trip. For the 17, I hope they are still around and get to return, they certainly deserve it. I am sure this visit to Qatar is going to be much more memorable and live a lot longer in the memory!
Line Ups
Qatar: Khalil, Alnobi, Z. Alkuwari, Kuwari, Altmanini, F. Alkuwari, Nadno, Mohamed, Hassan, Jassim, Fath.
Subs: Alrumaihi, Alkaobi, Mustafa, Obaidley, Aman, Abdulrazak, Ghulam, Alshammari, Alsulaiti.
Wales: P. Jones, Delaney, Barnard, Melville, C. Coleman, Page, J. Robinson, Speed, Blake, Pembridge, M. Jones.
Subs: M. Crossley, Symons, C. Robinson, Davies, Oster, N. Roberts.