After many years of selfless work, football has given Bartolomé Tintín Márquez (62 years old) part of his effort. Overnight the government of Qatar, where he has coached Al Wakrah for the last six years, called him to coach the team in the Asian Cup. With hardly any preparation time he managed to lead the Emirati country to its second title in its entire history. A success that has made him an idol in the country when he is approaching the end of his career.

Why Qatar?

I didn’t want to come because Al Wakrah was in the second division, but they convinced me. They told me that it was a team that had been in first class for many years but now was not doing well. We went up the first year and we have been in the Champions League for the last three years. This year we are second.

And suddenly, the selection.

When Queiroz left from one day to the next they thought that the one who had the most profound knowledge of the country’s players was me. They called me on December 10 and on the 24th there was a training camp to prepare for the Asian Cup. Here I have prestige for having won awards for best coach and having several nominations.

Can you say no to the Emir?

[Series]. The league here is a little special. Everything is government. That is why the most important thing is the selection. You can say no, but it was interesting to me.

The squad assimilated it quickly.

They knew what my team plays. They believed from the first moment.

They competed with powers such as Iran, Japan or Korea.

In Qatar there are 400,000 inhabitants, half of whom are women, plus children and the elderly. Soccer player licenses are few. There is only one player, Lucas, who is a naturalized Brazilian. For Qatar, winning the Asian Cup is as if Malta or Luxembourg had won two European Championships. It’s almost unthinkable. Unreal.

They have not hesitated to renew it.

I am happy, after winning the Asia Cup there is an interesting objective, which is to qualify Qatar for a World Cup, something that has not been achieved before.

Is the government’s investment in sports noticeable?

We work well here. There are very good infrastructures, facilities, fields. Qatar invests a lot in all sports. Handball, swimming, basketball, they like to hold world championships of everything.

How are you living these days of success?

It’s a coach’s dream. I have been watching football since I was 4 or 5 years old and I am 62. I saw Félix (Sánchez Bas) lift the Asia Cup in 2019 and you wonder if one day it will be your turn. There are many people who work hard, very professional, but it never reaches them. So I’m very happy. There have been many years dedicated to football. I have had many joys and many disappointments. But for me it means the finishing touch to all these years of work. It was worth it.

Is it your greatest success?

Yes. I have been second with Lotina and we won the Copa del Rey, second with Ernesto when we lost the UEFA Cup final. But no one remembers the second one.

Do the Qatari public go to the stadiums with so much heat?

We have played Asia Cup matches with 80,000 people in the stadium, but generally they don’t go much to football. Although now if we play in August since the World Cup there is already air conditioning in the stadiums.

Why are there so many Spanish coaches who succeed abroad?

In Spain we have some of the best qualified coaches in the world. But this has become a drain. If you lose three games, they send you away and there is a lot of coaching. In the end you have to leave because they value you a lot. People leave. If you want to be a coach and dedicate yourself to this and in Spain you have had a hard time, there is no way. You must go out.

Do you still retain your parakeet passion?

Yes, and all my staff are parakeets.

How do you see the situation at Espanyol?

I am and have been very critical of the club’s management due to many inconsistencies in sports, but not with the club. Despite everything, the important thing is that this year it goes up. In Eibar there was a very good result. This football thing, you lose and suddenly you start winning and you don’t know why. It has always increased in the first year and that is the key, because then the budgets are different. The message should be that you have to go up.

Do you identify with what happened to Luis García?

Yes of course. The same thing happened to me. He had been in the house for 20 years as a player and coach, going through all the categories: cadets, youth, reserve team, four years as assistant coach. And I was in twelve games and on matchday nine we were in UEFA.

What does Luis contribute to his staff?

Luis is a phenomenon. I said before they signed him that he was the ideal coach for Espanyol. But this football thing…

And he took it to Qatar.

He was in Barcelona and I told him: “I have been through this. It gets very hard. An opportunity has opened. It’s a nice challenge. “If you want to come, you come and after the Asia Cup you do whatever you want.” And in the end he is going to stay with me. He liked the country.

Is it true that you have encouraged Qatari personalities to buy the club?

Yes. But nothing. I don’t think so. They in Paris have bought PSG, in Barcelona they would have to buy Barcelona. Buying Espanyol with the monster next to it is very difficult.

Will you return to Spain to train?

I am not returning to Spain or Espanyol, or anywhere. After here it’s over. I hang up my tracksuit or my whistle or whatever you call it.

How would you like to say goodbye?

The challenge is to qualify Qatar for the World Cup. It would be an incredible achievement, a great finishing touch, even if it were just to qualify for the group stage.