‘Relish this moment, forget about the war’: Yemenis on World Cup | Conflict

Sanaa, Yemen In the district of Maeen inside the Yemeni capital Sanaa, about 10 street vendors gathered on the side of a public road to watch the Argentina-Saudi Arabia match.

The father, who earns money to buy vegetables or black market gasoline, filled a laptop brought by one of the vendors and placed it on cardboard boxes on the floor.

As they watched the game in the shadow of the building, some standing, some sitting – a curious passer-by stopped to catch parts of the game – the spectators forgot for a moment their worries. The crowd jumped and screamed every time a goal was scored.

After the match ended with a 2-1 victory in Saudi Arabia, the fans of the Saudi team cheered and laughed at the jokes of Argentina and Lionel Messi. Argentina fans were speechless.

“Football is an incomparable pleasure,” said Abdulrahman Nasser, a Messi fan who looks to be in his thirties. “It’s a way to increase a person’s happiness and make his fans not care about the problems of their lives.”

For many in Yemen, the World Cup has provided a welcome distraction and another topic of conversation.

Controlling the conversation

“Politics and war were the topics of our discussions and meetings,” explained 40-year-old self-employed driver Fuad Qasem at a coffee shop in Sanaa where shoppers had gathered to watch the opening match between Qatar and Ecuador. “[But] today, the World Cup has removed such a topic from our heads, and awareness of this event has become very important,” he added.

An eight-year war has ravaged Yemen, killing thousands and creating a humanitarian crisis. In October, the two warring parties failed to agree on an extension of the United Nations accord.

Despite the hardships caused by the war, many Yemenis’ love for football has not changed.

Staring at the television with his cheeks full of cotton, the narcotic page many Yemenis eat at meetings, Qasem said to his four companions, “Let’s enjoy this moment and forget about the war. I parked my taxi, put work and money aside, and I came to watch this event.”

Around him, the atmosphere grew as people took their seats and had a good view from the window, and sat down with their water, water or Pepsi while waiting for the match to start.

Qasem happily looked at the rosters of both teams, and read to his teammates about the players’ achievements.

‘He disturbed the dark sky’

Almost everyone in the coffee shop wanted Qatar to win. So, 16 minutes into the game, Ecuador scored their first goal, many of the spectators hit their foreheads and hands in frustration.

Qatar’s 2-0 defeat did not dampen the fear and pride many of those in attendance felt about the Arab nation participating in the World Cup for the first time.

“This event is everyone’s story, and Qatar is the one that dreamed it years ago and made that dream come true,” Qasem said.

Mohammed Ali, a 23-year-old studying public relations at a university in Sanaa, saw the competition as a source of hope and entertainment. He believes that Yemenis are tired of talking about the conflict in the country because these talks lead to fear for the future.

Ali’s friend, Izadeen Madi, a 24-year-old who studies English at a college of education in Sanaa, also believes that always talking about the problems related to the country’s wars, such as the lack of oil for the past months, affects people’s opinion. When bad news abounds, we find life difficult and miserable. This is what millions of Yemenis have felt throughout this war,” he said. “Of course, the World Cup is in Doha, but it has disrupted the chaos here.”

Mahdi said his favorite team is usually Brazil, who he hopes will advance to the finals. But with a small smile on his narrow face, he added that he hoped one of the four competing Arab nations would win.

The tournament, he believed, is a special moment for the Arab world. “I am a big fan of Brazilian football players. But when they meet Arab teams, I encourage the latter. Whether it is Qatar, Saudi Arabia, or Morocco, I will support them against European teams or other countries.”

Crazy football

Private coffee shops and the Ministry of Youth and Sports set up screenings ahead of the international soccer match.

There are observatories in Sanaa’s football stadiums, as well as outdoor observatories in 10 districts of Taiz, a city 260km (161 miles) south of the capital. Northeast of Sanaa, about 173km (107 miles), vigils were organized in different parts of the city of Marib, which has been a refuge for thousands of refugees throughout the war.

Ammar Saleh, a 35-year-old primary school teacher in Sanaa, has been a football fan since childhood.

Yemenis love football, according to Saleh, who explained why the World Cup has become so popular. If it’s volleyball, tennis, or any other sport, I don’t care. And this also applies to millions of Yemenis,” he said.

Saleh watched the first day of the tournament with his parents and siblings at home. “We tried to finish our work for the day before the opening ceremony and the first game. It was a good time full of excitement and stress. Every game, we have a team to support, so it’s tough.

For him, the victory of the Arab team in the World Cup is the victory of all Arabs. In Saleh’s view, the Arab countries may be different, but with many things in common – a shared language and religion, for example – when one country achieves great things on a global scale, all Arabs are proud.

A lesson in persistence

Saleh Abdulla, a 25-year-old shop worker in Sanaa, watches the match on his phone at work. “I like to watch football matches, especially the World Cup,” Abdulla told Al Jazeera.

At the opening game, wearing a traditional Yemeni dress with a robe, belt and jambia, a type of sword, Abdulla sat on a chair with his phone on the desk in front of him in a shop where people buy yogurt, biscuits, cooking oil, chocolate and other items.

When a customer came to watch the game, he stood up, politely brought them their items, took their money and went back to the game. Most of the time, Abdulla said that his social media accounts contain posts related to conflict.

“[Now,] “When I look at social media sites like Facebook, I see almost all posts discussing the World Cup in Qatar,” he said.

Abdulla has been following the World Cup since 2002. For him, that was “the most amazing tournament”.

While many see the game as a form of entertainment, others believe it shows that great things are possible.

“Hosting the event in Qatar is a great honor, and the second glory will happen if the Arab country wins the World Cup,” said Madhi. “This is why football fans in Yemen or other Arab countries are worried. They want to do it twice: to host and win the World Cup 2022.”

For some, the race has an important lesson.

Leila Amri, a 34-year-old university graduate in Sanaa, told Al Jazeera that Qatar did not implement these plans overnight. He said: “It took years of hard work, cooperation, and perseverance. “This should remind all sides fighting in Yemen that fighting hatred will not bring peace or prosperity to our country.”