There is no doubt that a lot of people had to turn immediately to a convenient atlas to find out if indeed there was such a country. It was therefore a surprise, bordering on shock when the name of the country that was gingerly exposed by Sepp Blatter, the then FIFA President was Qatar, one of the smallest countries of the world and for good measure one that was sited in a desert both physically and figuratively. Even more than these and from the point of political considerations, both the USA and England were super powers who could call on constituencies outside their respective borders to touch up their performance as hosts. For a start all the venues for every match were already in place in those countries and having each hosted the event before, the USA in 1994 and England in 1966, they could both call on a wealth of experience which would have enhanced their ability to put up a good, if not stupendous event.
When FIFA met to consider which country was going to host the World Cup finals for 20, no serious punter would have put any meaningful bet on Qatar getting the nod over the USA and England who also put in very serious bids. It is almost intoxicating to think that the World Cup will be kicking off in Qatar in only a few days time, ending twelve years of expectation heavily tinged with anxiety and loads of recrimination, finger pointing and torrents of abuse.
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