Image source, Getty Images

The Club World Cup is treading new ground in Qatar, with Brazilian referee Edina Alves named as one of the seven officials for the tournament. Alves, 41, is the only woman in the tournament officiating team and the first to officiate in a major Fifa men’s competition.

“I worked hard for this – I’ve been a referee for 20 years and I made sure I was prepared for the day this sort of opportunity came along,” said Alves, who worked for part of her youth in a garden centre filling bags of earth to pay for her physical education course in Parana state.

“Nothing has just dropped into my lap,” said Alves, who was the fourth official for the quarter-final tie between Tigres and Ulsan and was then in charge of the fifth-place match between Ulsan and Al-Duhail.

Alves was named on the list of tournament officials in January, two months after France’s Stephanie Frappart refereed the Champions League game between Juventus and Dynamo Kiev at the start of December. “It’s a dream to take part in a an event like this,” said Alves.

Although they were playing hosts Al-Duhail just a stone's throw from their own ground, Egyptian champions Al Ahly were not short of support as they won 1-0 on the opening day to secure a semi-final against Bayern Munich.

Doha has an estimated 300,000 Egyptian expatriots among its population and they endured strict virus controls to support their compatriots.

It was a contrast to the earlier fixture, when Mexico's Tigres and South Korea's Ulsan played in an almost empty stadium as fans from overseas are banned from travelling.

The Egyptian fans brought not only Egyptian flags and Al Ahly scarves as they were spurred on by drummers dotted among them. “Al-Ahly has a large fan base inside and outside Egypt,” one fan told AFP.