Heartbreak for Cristiano Ronaldo, hope for Lionel Messi. Two quarter-final games in the Fifa World Cup have been two different stories for the principal contenders for football supremacy.
A couple from Howrah saw both matches in Qatar.
A young engineer from Park Circus saw the France England and Argentina Netherlands games. They shared their experiences with The Telegraph.
Witness to history
Some four months ago, a man from Howrah had bought two quarter-final tickets and one semi-final ticket of the Fifa World Cup.
Prasenjit Sen, who owns a fuel pump near Howrah station, did not know then that he would be a first-hand witness to history.
On Saturday, he saw Morocco become the first African team to reach a World Cup semi-final, beating Portugal 1-0. The match was, in all likelihood, the last World Cup appearance of Portugese star Cristiano Ronaldo.
A day before, Sen saw Argentina hold their nerves in a cliffhanger against the Netherlands.
Argentine star Lionel Messi is still very much in the reckoning to lift the only trophy missing in his cabinet — the World Cup.
“It felt surreal, to see one champion fading into history and another rise up to the occasion. This World Cup is the last for both Messi and Ronaldo. But their stories have been so different,” said Sen, who is accompanied by his wife and a friend in Qatar.
On Saturday, the Al Thumama Stadium was swarmed by Moroccan fans.
“The entire stadium was a sea of red. Many people from the Arab countries have started coming to Qatar to watch Morocco. The Qataris are also rooting for Morocco,” said Sen.
“But the entire stadium cheered when Ronaldo entered the pitch as a substitute in the second half. The Moroccan fans in our stand also clapped for him.”
But the end was different. “The crowd seemed possessed by Morocco’s victory. Almost no one was bothered about Ronaldo, who walked into the tunnel quietly. A player of his stature deserved a better farewell,” said Sen.
A day earlier, Lusail stadium had the feel of a giant amphitheatre. “Argentina fans were in a clear majority. Anywhere you looked, you saw blue and white,” said Sen.
The decibel shot past the roof when Messi scored from a penalty and yet again when he scored during the tie-breaker.
“After the match, Messi and his teammates did rounds of the ground, almost walking up to the galleries. The fans went berserk,” he said.
So did Sen’s wife, Sampa, a passionate Messi fan. The couple are coming back after watching the France-Morocco semi-final.
Adnan Hassan at Al Bayt Stadium on Saturday
Saving for good
A 22-year-old engineer who has been saving for more than a year for the World Cup watched five matches in Qatar.
On Saturday, Adnan Hassan was at Al Bayt Stadium to watch his favourite team France play against England. Hassan was wearing a French shirt with Karim Benzema’s name on the back.
Benzema, Hassan’s favourite player and one of the most prolific strikers in the world, has been ruled out of the World Cup because of an injury. “Seeing him play would have been dream come true for me. But I wore his jersey to cheer France to victory,” he said.
“I was surrounded by English fans and was subdued by their cheering. But almost every time, I joined the Allez Les Bleus chorus from French fans,” said Hassan, who is from Park Circus in south Kolkata but has for the past six months been living in Bhubaneshwar for work.
“It was a delight to watch Mbappe and Dembele (both French players) as they have a bag of tricks. They are lightning quick and you don’t know what to expect. It is worth every penny that I saved and spent,” said Hassan. Hassan spent around Rs 2,20,000 to watch two quarter-final matches and three of the round of 16.
Hassan also saw the Argentina-Netherlands match and he felt that “none could beat the Argentine fans in their cheering”.