DOHA: An advanced guard of Argentina football fans chanted their certainty that Lionel Messi’s last World Cup will end in success Monday ahead of the Latin American side becoming the first to set up their base camp in Qatar.
Scores of fans gathered at the World Cup countdown clock on Doha’s seafront chanting Messi’s name and waving flags, 13 days before the tournament starts, as bemused police watched the mounting football fever in the Gulf state.
Many went to the clock to welcome Matias Villarroel, Silvio Gatti, Leandro Blanco and Lucas Ledezma who cycled 10,500 kilometers (6,500 miles) across Africa to reach Doha on Monday.
But Messi was on the minds of the riders and the other fans. “The dream behind cycling this whole route is that Argentina will win the World Cup and that Leo will lift the trophy on December 18,” said Blanco.