Evaristo: Qatar is my second home, I want to be there in 2022

When Evaristo de Macedo walked into Bayt Qatar in Rio de Janeiro, it was almost like coming home for this legend of Qatari football. The former Brazil international, who coached Qatar to second place at the 1981 FIFA Under-20 World Youth Championship and to their first-ever Olympic participation three years later in Los Angeles, was greeted with open arms and fond smiles by everyone at the 'House of Qatar' at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Evaristo smiled and with typical exuberance talked about the players he coached to such success during his stint in the Qatar national team set up, which lasted more than a decade. "My home with my family and many memories is Rio de Janeiro, but the second home is Qatar," he said.

Towards the end of his spell in Doha, Evaristo also helped Qatar reach the quarter-finals of the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games

When he entered the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) booth at Bayt Qatar, Evaristo gazed at the scale model of Al Rayyan Stadium for some time, and then said: "This is the club that Mansour Muftah played for. He was one of my best players."

In an exclusive interview with www.sc.qa, the former Real Madrid and Barcelona striker said he had known from the time he arrived in the country in 1980 that Qatar would go on to achieve great things.

"Some people would not have believed it. But I have a very close relationship with the people who make the decisions in Qatar, and I knew Qatar would go very far. I knew they would become one of the great countries in the world – I already knew that when I stepped foot in Qatar back in 1980," he said.

"I spent over 10 years there and made fantastic friendships. These are memories that I have of Qatar which I will never forget. We created a new mentality of football in the country. It was the big legacy of progress which we left behind for Qatari football, and you can still see the fruits of that today."

Walking through the SC area at Bayt Qatar together with his family, Evaristo fondly remembered the time when Qatar first surprised the footballing world at the 1981 FIFA World Youth Championship: "It was fantastic what we did in Australia. Qatar only failed to win the final because of the decision to play the game after a heavy downpour. It helped West Germany. But we achieved something great that year. We would have won the final against Germany if it had not rained."

Evaristo instilled similar conviction in his players in Australia.

"In that tournament we asked our players to believe that they could beat the traditional football nations like England and Brazil. They accepted this challenge, and played a marvellous tournament. Then, in 1984 we played another fantastic qualification to reach the Olympics in Los Angeles. It was difficult, but we had a group of players with a good philosophy and great skills. That's how we got Qatar to among the top teams in the world."

"In 1992 it was a tough task to reach the quarter-finals, because the other teams were good. Qatar prepared very well for the tournament and the players trained and played very well in Barcelona. It was a big surprise, but I trusted them completely and believed in the team. "

Evaristo left Qatar after the 1992 Olympics, but says he has remained in touch with his friends in the country ever since: "I like that Qatari people have a great sense of respect and admiration for people. The years I lived in Qatar I was always very well received, I made great friends for life and always remember Qatar with a lot of fondness. I am in close touch with my Qatari friends, I visit them sometimes and when they come to Brazil they get in touch with me. We have a good time and talk about the fond memories we have together."

Evaristo is particularly, and predictably, interested in the men's football competition at the Rio Olympics, saying Brazil need to win the title to complete their collection.

"We need to win Olympic gold with the men's football team, it is a title we have never won before. We have a good team with many overseas-based players, and they can do it. Neymar is the leader of this team, and even though he has big competition to become the best player in the world, he can do it. He is preparing well to become the best."

A man of Evaristo's stature has become part of the folklore of Qatari football over the years, including a story that he supposedly played a few minutes of a match with 12 players on the field. He talks about this with a twinkle in his eye: "It was in a Gulf Cup match one year, the referee was against us so I brought in another player and didn't take one off, and we played with 12 men for 11 minutes," he laughed.

And before this living legend of Qatar's football history headed back from Bayt Qatar, he signed off with a wish: "There are still a few more years for Qatar 2022, but if God gives me strength I will be there," he said with a smile as radiant as the city he lives in.