DThis World Cup is really anything but boring. But one question from those who stayed at home couldn’t be surpassed when it came to boredom: “How’s the weather in Qatar?” How? As always! Sun, 30 degrees, blue sky. That was the standard answer. So far.
But suddenly, in the afternoon before the German group final against Costa Rica, the sky turned dark. Clouds came up. A bad omen? Like in the distant past on the day of the dreary Oman test match, then still being followed from afar in the cold homeland? Indeed, as it turned out. In the evening, at the World Cup game in al-Khor, it didn’t matter what the sky looked like, it had long been really dark – and the Germans experienced a black hour in their World Cup history. In the event of a cloudburst, however, the roof of the al-Bayt stadium could have been closed in no time.
A cloudburst in Qatar? Sounds like something out of the Arabian Nights, but it’s not a fairy tale. Such a thing can indeed happen, as the prepared reporter, who had already been warmly recommended for the stadium freezer, knows. On average there are two rainy days a month between September and April. The Welsh, for example, hoped that this would happen during the World Cup. Even before the tournament started, they were complaining about the unbearable heat. When a small cloud appeared in the sky during the conversation on the training ground, several players looked up at the sky and begged for a few drops.
They came too. However, from the lawn sprinklers that were incorrectly adjusted. Instead of watering the green the players were standing on, the reporters got wet. The Welsh have long been back on their island, the Germans back in the freezing cold.
While still in al-Khor, on the nocturnal journey back from the site of the sinking, a weather phenomenon appeared that one would not necessarily expect in Qatar either. Dense fog enveloped the desert. The veil of oblivion? One can only hope so. Because the question about the weather in Qatar is really one of the most harmless questions you can ask a German about this World Cup.
