Norwich City: Paul Chesterton's new World Cup diary from Qatar

Why? Well it started with my monopod, or the piece of kit my long lens sits on. That was on its way out and without one it would mean trying to hold this big, heavy lens up during a game. No thank you. But this isn’t London. There are three camera shops in Qatar and they only had the expensive version left.

Then my ‘Pocket Wizard’ goes. That is the remote camera behind the goal. It got hit by a ball and one of the legs broke. Not a huge cost but annoying. Then the handle on my camera bag exploded as I got to the Argentina versus Australia knock out tie.

The handle itself is telescopic but the handle part just came away, meaning there is no other way of pulling this really heavy bag around. Thankfully the manufacturer can ship me one out to Qatar. Not that it helped me in that game. But what happened pre-match put the tin hat on those equipment woes.  

To set the scene. Let me tell you what happens before those team photos you see when players pose pre-match.

They basically herd all the snappers together in one corner of the field, using a rope, and move us towards the half way line to be in position when the teams come out. While I'm waiting in this scrum for the Argentina and Australia players someone next to me gets a bit busy and knocks the quick release mechanism of my monopod, which sends my big lens and camera crashing to the floor. You are talking £14,000 of kit. Result? Broken camera and broken mount on the lens, which was then unusable.

It only dropped 18 inches to the ground but that was enough to do the damage. I genuinely felt a little bit sick to my stomach. That was probably my lowest point of any tournament I've ever been to. When you see it hit the ground you know it has to be broken.

The last time that happened to me Lionel Messi was involved again. That was a Champions League game at Arsenal, when he scored for Barcelona and two of their fans piled out of the away end and knocked my camera. So basically anything which happened in the other half to where I was sat pitchside I didn’t have the right lens for the job.

I found myself shooting fans in the stands, generally tinkering and doing anything but Argentina’s attack. Thankfully some of the other photographers rallied round and kept my spirits up. Then things took a turn for the better the following day when Canon were able to do the repairs at the main media centre. Although it made for a very early start as that was the day of the England game. 

But you have to roll with the punches in this line of work.

I think I mentioned in my previous diaries the logistics and challenges of getting transport from one game to the next, when we had four a day to choose from. That came home to roost for South Korea’s stoppage time win over Portugal last Friday to earn them a place in the last-16.

We had a very tight turnaround to get out of the stadium to make the connection for Brazil and Cameroon. I had packed up and was walking down the touchline when South Korea scored that dramatic winner. Guess where the celebrations took place? Yes, right where I had been sitting barely 30 seconds before. It's a cracking picture.

I've got someone on the opposite side who has taken a frame and you can see the South Korean goalscorer taking his shirt off, and me in the background, and I'm clearly mouthing, well I won’t tell you what I was mouthing. I’d literally gone 10 metres from my seat.

I quickly dumped my bag and because I always carry a short lens around my neck I was able to run back into the scrum and get some celebration pictures. Those crazy, screaming-down-the-lens shots are gold. But then of course we still had to leave sharpish so we missed all the brilliant stuff at the end with their fans. We’ve had a few close shaves in this tournament, but that was the worse.  

By the time you are reading this I should be on my first day off of the tournament. There are no more games now until Friday. Which means domestic chores firstly in the apartment and hopefully that souk experience I mentioned last week. Maybe even get a ride on a camel. Anything to taste the local culture other than stadiums, media centres and buses. 

Then it gets serious. England versus France game has to be the biggest one I will have photographed at a World Cup involving the Three Lions.

Italy in the Euros was big, and Croatia in the semi-final four years ago but this feels like it could almost be a final. I just hope the drama is confined to the pitch on Saturday night. 

You can check out Paul's work in Qatar at Focus Images