More from the opening ceremony
Way, way, way below me, on the pitch, traditionally-clad women are swaying rhythmically, creating human sand-waves, lit in gold.
The music harkens back to a distant time.
Then again, this entire nation was still sand, bedouins and pearl fishers 50 years ago.
Before they found oil, then gas, and became a nation transformed.
A nation of 300,000 Qataris – and 1.8m migrant workers – who can hold the biggest prize in…