The last Argentine banner in Qatar was lived with enthusiasm for the final against France and anger for the lack of tickets

The doors of the Qatar Metro open at Souq Waqif station and the first thing a band of Argentines see heading towards the latest flag in support of the national team is a timeline of all the World Cup. Mexico 1986 fell right on that descent and image of Diego Maradona with the high cup. “They are signals”, the fans began to repeat, giving each other a hand a few hours before the final against France. The fans who dominated the central market for the last time Doha shouting for the Scaloneta. However, a few kilometers away, the fight continued the thousands who are without match tickets and unite to lament.

An important group of Argentines met in front of the door of the Jassim hotel, a sort of branch of the National University of Qatar, where the bulk of the delegation of leaders of the AFA. That is the meeting point to make the complaint visible and try to get tickets at official prices or close to the official ones. The protest has been going on since Thursday, without incident.

The Fifa had announced that it was going to be put up for sale a remainder of 10,000 tickets. However, until this Saturday night Qatar that had not been made visible on the web for them to be purchased. You had to do a virtual queue, but after more than twenty minutes of waiting, when accessing the purchase, the screen did not show the available tickets.

There are some who do not lose their temper because have faith: they don’t separate from their computers or their cellphones and they don’t stop updating the site with the force of F5 waiting, at any moment, to appear.

Desperation already manifests itself in other sympathizers who appeal to research in the resale, the price of which rises to unwieldy figures in US currency. Most Argentines are available pay no more than $2,500. But scalpers are calling for a double-cross with the fact that it’s last game by Lionel Messi in a World Cup and can be crowned on the playing field of Lusail Stadium, whose stands welcome nearly 90,000 spectators.

“I was going to buy from an Iranian for $2,500 and then he asked me for $4,700. It’s impossible to pay that,” she said clarion a fan who prefers not to let his name be known. Many will risk waiting until a couple of hours before the meeting, which will start at 12 (Argentine time).

It’s that resale value they usually decrease considerably just before the initial whistle. There are many who got tickets this way for previous matches. We will have to see if the same thing will happen in the final.

Meanwhile, among the carpets, fabrics and sweet aromas of the water pipes of the Souq Waqif market, the albiceleste flags have returned to wave in the last banner of the Argentine fans in Doha.

A giant image of Messi flirting with a huge flag with the image of Maradona and the Cup tore up showed the celebration of Leo doing the Mouse Gigionext to the photo of Juan Roman Riquelme, the creator of that iconic celebration that has become a way to answer questions.

The songbook this time mixed the new hits that have become popular on Arab soil with the old songs like the “We’ll be back, we’ll be back…” and the “Come on, come on, Argentina…”.

Argentinian football fans are one of Qatar’s colorful attractions. They aroused so much admiration in the locals that a flag was even made on which some sheikhs had every supporter he passed sign his signature. the blue-and-white party.

This time the Qatari police remained on the sidelines, monitoring the situation and did not dare to stop the din of the fans who applauded without problems for a couple of hours in the heart of the capital.

People respected the ritual the day before each commitment for the World Cup. Once again the heat and albiceleste color were all the rage. The party will move this Sunday to the stands of the Lusail so that the national team feels like a local again in the most important duel of all.

Doha, Qatar. Special delivery.