DOHA: The first five days of jam-packed action at the sprawling venues in and around the city of Doha threw up many positive, negative, and controversial moments. However, the first phase was eventful and the happenings in the arena kept all other controversies at bay.

Before touching upon what happened during the first five days, it would be better to state that this World Cup in Asia (this is not the first time the continent is hosting the global soccer event) has been an eye-opener for all those who considered Asians as underdogs in the game of football.

To be precise, this is also the first time the World Cup has witnessed the Continent represented by six nations (yes, with the inclusion of Australia as an Asian team).

Spicier in the first phase were the commanding wins of Saudi Arabia and Japan against title favourites Argentina and Germany, respectively.

Saudi Arabia’s win over illustrious Lionel Messi-led Argentina was the toast for the Gulf nations, who are hosting the World Cup for the first time in the region.

Though the real hosts Qatar couldn’t impress much in their first match (and also their game against Senegal in the second phase) against Ecuador, their partners in the Gulf region caused a flutter in the football world with their best-ever show on earth.

Beating Messi & Co was like winning the World Cup for the entire Saudi Arabian nation and the land’s rulers declared a day’s national holiday to celebrate the occasion.

They still have two more matches (against Poland and Mexico) and look confident enough to make the knock-out phase.

On the other hand, the Blue Samurai (Japan) also played their part to make Asia proud by cutting through the pride of former world champions Germany.

This was a win that even surprised Japanese fans, who have already won many a heart in Qatar and elsewhere with their gestures of cleaning up the stadiums, almost after every match of the day.

For Japan, they have another tournament favourite Spain and also Costa Rica to face and one more surprise win can put them in the knock-out phase.

The other Asian nations in the fray in this edition are Iran, South Korea, and Australia, which have experienced mixed fortunes so far.

Iran and Australia suffered humiliation at the hands of in-form England and defending champions France losing by big margins. However, South Korea was better against former champions Uruguay by sharing the spoils with a stalemate.

Nevertheless, the Asian teams have left their mark in one way or other and there is still hope. African teams too, especially Ghana, as usual, were flamboyant with their performance

POINTS TO NOTE SO FAR…

Have you seen any team not singing the national anthem with patriotic pride? Well, this happened just before Iran faced England in their group opener. The Iranian players appeared motionless (nonresponsive or silent) when the country’s national anthem was played. This was to show solidarity with anti-government protesters in their country.

Upsets of the first phase began with a stunning 2-1 win for Saudi Arabia against favourites Argentina and Japan’s 2-1 shocker against four-time world champions Germany.

It rained goals when former champions Spain ran riot against Costa Rica in a huge 7-0 win, which saw Gavi become the youngest World Cup goal-scorer since Brazilian legend Pele.

Talking about CR7 we know that records tumble whenever he steps onto a football ground. Brushing aside his bitter moments with Manchester United, the Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo scored off a penalty against Ghana to become the first player to score in five different World Cups.

Finally, during the last match of the initial group phase, there emerged a contender for the goal of the tournament award. Richarlison scored both goals for Brazil and one of them was so spectacular that it raised many eyebrows. It was definitely a ‘wow’ moment.

The name Neymar scares many opponents and if the tough-looking Serbian defenders were more physical against the Brazilian star, it was more of fear than anything else. The No. 10 as expected was fouled nine times in Brazil’s 2-0 win over Serbia and one of the tackles resulted in him limping off with a swollen ankle. Will he take the field in the remaining matches, depends on the nature of his injury (Fingers crossed). Coach Tite is confident that Neymar will come back to deliver the goods, but his presence in the playing eleven for the next group match against Switzerland looks doubtful. Incidentally, Neymar won four free-kicks in the match against Serbia, making him the most fouled player thus far. If anyone doubts Neymar’s dedication, please run through the first match and see it for yourself. He was present on the field for the full 79 minutes of the game and mind you 11 minutes of it was with the painful swollen ankle, which Tite claimed as ‘remarkable’.

The second phase of the group stage has already begun and be ready for more interesting facts, surprises, and agony.