Qatar 2022 WC will be exceptional not only for the players but also for the fans, says Effenberg

Bayern Munich’s former Champions League winning captain Stefan Effenberg was one of a number of legends who played in Qatar in the 2003 season, pulling over the shirt of Al Arabi in a season when the likes of Pep Guardiola, the De Boer brothers, Gabriel Batistuta or Fernando Hierro were also playing in the country.
“When I came to Doha in 2003, it was a big experience,” the Bayern Munich legend recalled in an interview with www.sc.qa. “Now they are working to put on a tournament which will be exceptional not only for players but also for the fans. It will be a unique tournament and very interesting. Of course there are always negative voices, which were the case before South Africa, before Brazil. But I am convinced that the possibilities which Qatar has will lead them to put on a tournament where everyone says: That was exceptional.”  
Having played 35 times for the German national team and represented his country at a FIFA World Cup final, Effenberg said there were tangible benefits from Qatar’s compact hosting plans: “It of course has advantages. If I compare it to the World Cup in the USA where we had our base in Chicago and then our game down in Dallas. Not only the many flight hours, but also the climate was completely different, and a game like that is difficult to play. In Doha every team will find their place, to train in privacy and be optimally prepared.”
Looking back at his accomplished playing career for the club he captained and where he earned the nickname of ‘The Tiger’, Effenberg said he saw a current and a former Bayern Munich player who resembled his style of play in midfield.   
“My way of playing was not un-modern. I do see players like myself today, when I see Vidal at Bayern Munich then he is the type of player who through his aggressive style of play and his personality can place a signal for his teammates. But there are others, like Schweinsteiger, the type of players who are very important because they can lead the way for others.”