Eit was only a few days ago. We wrote about the same questions over and over again. And what shall we say now? Firstly, the permanent sun in Qatar didn’t hurt us and we are therefore not writing these lines in rhyme. Because secondly: The thing about the permanent sun is not true at all.
The question of those who stayed at home about the weather can now be answered in a more differentiated way. A colleague from the al-Khor branch even radioed in disbelief to the main office in Doha: “Is it raining where you are too?” No, it wasn’t raining here, but the otherwise blue sky was overcast with gray clouds.
That’s a blessing
There are other eternally the same questions these days that everyone seems to be asking themselves and therefore everyone who is out and about here: “Where are you from?” For journalists, it is always associated with a look at the stomach. Not because its extent would have reached a questionable extent due to the good food, but because the solution is dangling on the welded-in ID card called accreditation: GER. Germany.
“Germany” as the answer to the Nations Cup question is a wonderful starting point for wonderful stories. Sometimes they are short stories, sometimes life stories. They are about Gerd Müller, Franz Beckenbauer or Miroslav Klose. The German World Cup history is bigger than the German World Cup present. Much larger.
But they also act outside of football. Told by the fan who comes from Venezuela, once lived in Germany, is now at home in the USA and is looking forward to the final games in Qatar. Told by the woman from Sudan who works in Doha, would very much like to go to Berlin and is happy about special encounters with people from all over the world.
Told by the man from Mexico whose sister lives in Germany and who can hardly wait for the 2026 World Cup games in his home country. All the stories have one thing in common. They’re not about the weather. But of life and ways. That’s a blessing. Just like the rain.
