Xavi Hernandez played in 42 "El Clasicos" during his legendary career with Barcelona and on Thursday thousands of miles away from the Camp Nou, he took part in his "43rd".
The former world player of the year’s new team, Al Sadd, took on Al Rayyan in Doha in a league fixture which Qatar has re-branded the “Clasico”, as the World Cup 2022 hosts try to demonstrate to a sceptical outside world that it has a footballing heritage.
The Qatar Stars League fixture was hyped like no other domestic game.
A week-long build-up in the local media was deserving of Barcelona v Real Madrid, safety officials warned fans to arrive early to avoid congestion – unheard of in a league where crowds are usually sparse – and the game dominated social media.
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The Arabic language version of #QatarClassico was the most popular hashtag in the country from early December, according to Doha-based social media research company, Creata Insights.
The fixture pitched Qatar’s most-decorated club, Al Sadd, against its best-supported; its most famous player, Xavi, versus another former Barcelona player, Sergio Garcia, and barnstorming league leaders Al Rayyan, going for a record 12th consecutive victory against the team everyone expected to win the league.
“They are using the ‘Clasico’ term to create an atmosphere,” said Ganesh Neelakantan, a local football journalist with Doha Stadium Plus magazine.
“They are trying to show the world they have genuine Qatari football fans.”
Amid the barrage of criticism Qatar has faced since being chosen to host the 2022 World Cup, beyond allegations of corruption and human rights, has been the charge that it has no footballing pedigree.
Not only have Qatar never qualified for the World Cup, but, claim critics, its domestic league is full of unknown teams playing in empty stadiums, except for when labourers are paid to attend.
Not so, said fans among the noisy 10,963 crowd – large in Qatari terms and, quite possibly although no one was sure, a league attendance record.
“It’s very good for Qatar,” to have a “clasico” Mohamed Al Thani, a 24-year-old student heading to the game told AFP.
“You can see around, there is a lot of people coming and the game is going to be very exciting.”
He added that Rayyan have shown the way ahead for teams in Qatar and tried to attract fans to games, which he thinks will succeed.
To do that, adds Neelakantan, it has to prove attractive to locals who can shun domestic games and instead fly off to see teams such as Barcelona.
“They (Qataris) love their football,” said Hassim Sheikh, a 17-year-old Al Rayyan fan. “Qatar is developing right now and it is taking a leap in football.”
Al Saad and Al Rayyan may be a wise choice for a Qatari “clasico”.
Despite the charge of Qatari football having no history, both sides are older than the most famously owned Qatari-club, Paris Saint-Germain.
Al Sadd, who have won 13 QSL titles and an AFC Champions League, were formed in 1969, a year before PSG. Al Rayyan is even older, formed in 1967.
Mubarak Dihue, a professional volleyball player with the Qatari national side, said he hoped the fixture could prove popular beyond the tiny country.
“I hope today the game can be something for outside countries to see,” he said.
“Sure, we love football. You can go to a small, small street in Doha and you can see the people play football. The first game in Doha is football.”
If this is truly the first Qatari “clasico”, it was entertaining and controversial.
An open match, Al-Sadd took a 2-1 lead into the break and held on against an increasingly desperate Al Rayyan in the second period.
The match ended on a sour note as frustrated Al Rayyan fans, upset that their team had suffered their first defeat of the season, threw objects, including water bottles onto the pitch.
Police even had to separate fans taunting each other at the end.
For Xavi, the feeling of victory was familiar; his last “El Clasico” in March, in Barcelona ended in a 2-1 win.
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