Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor, Qatar – On a cool, late autumn night in Qatar, thousands of football fans converged upon the Al Bayt Stadium to catch a glimpse of one of the biggest sporting icons on the planet – Cristiano Ronaldo.The Portuguese superstar, 39, and his Saudi football club Al Nassr were in town to face Qatar’s Al Gharafa Sports Club in an Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League Elite Group B match on Monday.
Despite the stadium’s 50-kilometre (31 miles) distance from Qatar’s capital Doha, the late 7pm (16:00 GMT) weeknight kickoff and the competition’s relatively lower appeal to the average football fan in these parts, the event drew a staggering 37,000 spectators, or 12 percent of the entire population of the Gulf state.
Football fans at the AFC Champions League Elite Group B match between Al Gharafa SC of Qatar and Al Nassr FC at the Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor, Qatar [Hafsa Adil/Al Jazeera]
‘Ronaldo, can I have your shirt?’
Among them were a few thousand loyal Al Gharafa fans and a few hundred travelling supporters backing the visiting team – but a large majority were unaligned spectators who simply turned up for a rare glimpse of Ronaldo, who is, undoubtedly, one of the most recognisable, charismatic and iconic sports personalities of the 21st century.
Foremost among the fans were waves of children of varying ages, nationalities and footballing loyalties.
Replica Ronaldo …
