Qatar 1-1 Northern Ireland: Ulster Fans sing and chant about bribery as Michael O’Neill’s side are forced to share the spoils in Crewe

Stuart Dallas gave Northern Ireland the lead two minutes after the break
But Qatar midfielder Karim Boudiaf equalised with 20 minutes to play
Northern Ireland fans waved £10 notes at Qatar players during the game
They chanted about bribery following events involving FIFA this week

Published:
18:02 GMT, 31 May 2015

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Updated:
18:56 GMT, 31 May 2015

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Northern Ireland fans chanted about bribery and waved tenners towards the pitch as they drew with Qatar in a most surreal international friendly at Crewe Alexandra’s Gresty Road on Sunday evening.

While it was an important warm-up match for Michael O’Neill’s Ulster side ahead of their key Euro 2016 qualifier against Romania, the occasion was notable for being Qatar’s first game since the controversy over their hosting of the World Cup erupted again last week with the arrest of several Fifa executives in Switzerland.

The noisy contingent of Northern Ireland supporters in a crowd of 3,022 didn’t let them forget it either. Among the tributes to their late idol George Best, they sang ‘Shall we take a bribe for you’, ‘How much did you pay for the Fifa World Cup’ and waved their bank notes Loadsa-money style.

A Northern Ireland fans holds up a poster aimed at Qatar during the friendly at Crewe’s Gresty Road

Qatar midfielder Karim Boudiaf is mobbed by his team-mates following his goal against Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland take the lead against Qatar thanks to Brentford midfielder Stuart Dallas

Dallas and his Norther Ireland team-mates celebrates as they take the lead in their friendly against Qatar

It was clearly audible for those English-speaking viewers able to watch the match live back in The Gulf.

On the pitch, Northern Ireland were dominant despite manager Michael O’Neill resting key players Chris Brunt, Kyle Lafferty, Steven Davis and Gareth McAuley.

But after taking the lead through Brentford’s Stuart Dallas early in the second half, they were rocked by a 75th minute equaliser from Karim Boudiaf – their first shot on target.

Like several, of the Qatar team, they were neither born nor raised there. French-Algerian Boudiaf played for Nancy in France until he left at 19 to play club football in the Gulf, later being enlisted for their national team.

Similarly, striker Mohammed Muntari is African left his native Ghana at the age of 18 to the chagrin of his countrymen who saw him as the next Asamoah Gyan. Goalkeeper Amine Lecomte, who made a number of good saves, is a French-Moroccan who left Sochaux for Qatar in Qatar and is now their established No1.

While Northern Ireland face a key qualifier against Romania in Belfast on June 13, hopeful of reaching for their first major finals since 1986, Qatar were also preparing for the start of their 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign, against the Maldives on June 11.

Traders sell special half and half merchandise ahead of Northern Ireland’s friendly match with Qatar

Northern Ireland get in the spirit as they watch their Green and White Army take on Qatar in Crewe

The Northern Ireland fans at Gresty Road cheers their side on as they come up against Qatar on Sunday

Qatar’s Majdi Siddiq vies for the ball with Northern Ireland`s Patrick McNair at the Alexandra Stadium

Northern Ireland’s Stuart Dallas and Qatar’s Mohammed Musa battle for the ball on Sunday afternoon

MATCH FACTS

Northern Ireland: Carroll (McGovern), McLaughlin, Hughes (J Evans), Cathcart, Lafferty, McNair (Magennis), McGinn, C Evans, Dallas (Ward), Norwood (McCourt), Griggs (Boyce)

Qatar: Lecomte, Traore, Kasola, Ismail, Musa, Yasser, Hatem, Elsayed, Siddiq, Mohamad, Muntari

Referee: Michael Oliver

With that aim, a Hertfordshire-based football agency Kam Sports arranged for them to play this game and then to face Scotland next week in Edinburgh where they may face protests against the level of migrant deaths in Qatar building stadiums for the World Cup.

Ironically, given the opposition by The FA to Fifa President Sepp Blatter and the continuing FBI investigation into allegations of corruption and bribery at the world’s governing body including voting for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, Qatar’s players have been using England’s £105million headquarters at St George’s Park as their base.

On the evidence at Gresty Road, Qatar will have to bring in a lot more ringers before they can be competitive on the world stage.

Northern Ireland’s Corry Evans and Qatar’s Hatem Abdulaziz battle for the ball in the air during a friendly

Northern Ireland’s Craig Cathcart and Qatar’s Mohammed Muntari battle for the ball in the air on Sunday

Irish goalkeeper Roy Carroll didn’t have any meaningful action before he was substituted at half-time. At the other end, Lecomte made good stops to deny Will Griggs and Niall McGinn in a debut for Qatar’s new Uruguayan coach Jose Carreno.

However Carreno does on the pitch, Qatar will still be associated with off-field politics, as the Northern Ireland fans so duly noted, ending the game with a chant of ‘You can stick Sepp Blatter up your ****’

Fifa has been plunged into crisis by an FBI investigation into allegations of bribery and corruption at football’s governing body, including the votes for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. Even though Blatter re-elected as President on Friday, there have been calls for him to leave by The FA and other Uefa members.