'The last few months were a brilliant work and life experience - a privilege'

A Letterkenny man who attended Sunday’s World Cup final between Argentina and France having managed to secure a ticket just over three hours beforehand has spoken of the unforgettable experience. 

Barry Fitzgerald, who is originally from Knocknamona Park and currently living in Clondalkin, had been working for FIFA World Cup in Qatar since August, as a TV Operations Coordinator for Training Sites, having previously been employed by Setanta Sports and Eir Sport in Dublin. 

His team in Doha were told to register for tickets for the final between France and Argentina in case of last minute returns. However, at 3pm before the 6pm local-time kick-off on Sunday, there had been no response. But then, the magical email arrived.

“I couldn’t believe my luck in getting a ticket," Barry says. "It was brilliant as the whole team did. Nobody was going to miss out and that was important. It was like a reward for everyone together.”

Staying at Lusail, where the stadium of the same name which was playing host to the final, Barry was just a 15-minute walk away and somewhere he would jog past most mornings. He joined his seven colleagues and manager, who all also managed to secure tickets.   

“When I got the ticket on the email I thought of my dad,” Barry adds of his late father Barney - originally from Bundoran - who passed away last year. “I was quite emotional as it was dad who got me interested in sport in the first place." 

As for a day job, Barry was part of a team that would broadcast live footage from the various countries’ training sessions, all of whom had bases in the city of Doha.

“I applied online and managed to get it after doing a couple of interviews,” he says. “I first landed in Qatar in August when it was very hot!”.

Barry’s training bases played host to the squads from Portugal, Poland, Senegal and Morocco, who ended up becoming the first ever African nation to reach the semi-finals. Then, further into the tournament with the media interest becoming more focused, he worked at the training sessions of Croatia and Argentina. 

“All in all it was an unbelievable experience,” Barry adds ahead of his journey home to Letterkenny for Christmas. “The team I worked with - all from different backgrounds, like Brazil, Russia, Lebanon, Australia and China - are friends for life. It was sad leaving them.”

Barry attended England’s first round scoreless draw with the United States, Germany’s surprise elimination despite winning 4-2 against Costa Rica, Morocco’s round of 16 penalty shoot-out win over Spain and France’s 2-1 victory against England in the quarter-finals. 

As for the final, in front of 88,966 people, a Lionel Messi penalty and goal from Angel Di Maria gave Argentina a 2-0 lead at half-time, which they held comfortably until the 80th minute. However, two goals from France’s Kylian Mbappé levelled it up at 2-2. Messi managed to hook Argentina into a 3-2 lead before Mbappé’s second penalty of the game made it 3-3 at full-time in extra-time.

In the penalty shoot-out that followed, Mbappé and Randal Kolo Muani scored for France, either side of Kingsley Coman’s effort being saved by Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez and Aurélien Tchouaméni steering wide. Argentina scored all four of their spot kicks, with Messi leading the way before Gonzalo Montiel sealed a 4-2 win. 

“It was probably the most incredible game I ever saw,” Barry adds. “It was billed beforehand as Messi versus Mbappé but things don’t always work out like that. For 60, maybe 70 minutes, there was nothing untoward and then it exploded into life. It was brilliant to watch and I was delighted to see Messi win and finally complete the last piece of the jigsaw. What a leader and what an icon.

“The Argentinian support brought so much to the tournament right from the start and it was  brilliant for them. For France it was such a rollercoaster too and  they contributed so much.”

Whether he had acquired a ticket or not, Barry would’ve been attending the Lusail Stadium on Sunday night for his work’s wrap party. After it finally settled down he was back, where, with the stadium emptied, he got a chance to stand by the penalty spot where all the drama took place, sit in the Argentinian dugout and his name and those of his colleagues were displayed on the LCD advertising boards as a thank you.

“I called home to my nephew Leon in Letterkenny and my fiancée Ruth in Dublin from the penalty spot,” he says. “It was a moment like which I won’t get again and the last few months were a brilliant work and life experience - it was a privilege to be there.”