Dear Qatar National Team,
I am Maha Albadr, an 18 year old girl from Doha, Qatar. As a youngster I was always interested in football, as I grew up seeing how passionate Qataris are about the sport and how much they show it week after week in stadiums across the country.
I still remember going to my first game, it was magical. At the time I was only six years old and I attended Al Sadd against Al-Gharafa at the Jassem Bin Hamed Stadium. My most vivid memory of that game is how big everything seemed. I’m sure it was a normal size stadium, but I was so small and used to watching games on TV that everything seemed huge in real life.
My father always said that the golden age of the Qatari national team was in 1992 when we won the Gulf Cup and that nothing could compare to that, but here we are 30 years later preparing to watch our national team play in the World Cup of FIFA.
I am very proud of our team and I know I speak for all Qataris when I say it.
When I say that football unites us, it really does. For example, when Qatar competed in the Copa América, there was a big time difference between Qatar and Brazil, but that didn’t stop us from supporting our team. We get up at 2 in the morning to watch our nation play.
I can’t believe we’re hosting the World Cup. We are very excited to receive the whole world in our country, it is a dream come true. I attended the 2018 World Cup in Russia and all I could think about while I was there was what it would be like when we hosted it in 2022, rooting for our nation and celebrating the beautiful game.
To my national team and coaches: thank you! We are all proud of you. They are making history for our country, and I know there may be pressure to perform, but regardless of the results, we will congratulate them all. We will encourage them. We will always support you.
Yalla Qatar!
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