QNA
Qatar’s young stars will meet United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the opening match of the U23 Friendly Championship which kicks off across Qatar’s stadiums from today.
Qatar's opening match will begin at the Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium at 10:00pm tonight.
Competing in the tournament which features Asian teams, Qatar will play alongside the likes of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Iraq, United Arab Emirates, Thailand, Kyrgyzstan, South Korea and Vietnam.
Portuguese coach Bruno Pinheiro, coach of the Qatar Olympic football team, is confident that the team will make gain great gains during its participation in the tournament.
Addressing a pre-match media briefing, Pinheiro said that the tournament is a great opportunity to prepare the team for the upcoming Asian Cup finals, pointing out that there are many new players whose abilities will be judged during the matches.
Pinheiro, who led the Qatari Olympic team to the WAFF Championship runners-up finish last November, said, “We are waiting for the best from all players and we are looking for the best preparation to ensure that we reach the required fitness. We have undergone some preliminary preparations during the past days, and we will try to make the most of it.”
UAE’s Spanish coach Denis Silva said that he also wants his players to make most of the opportunity to gain experience during the competitions with the presence of 10 new players in the team.
In another match today, Saudi Arabia will take on Thailand at the Hamad bin Khalifa Stadium at 10:30pm.
Saad Al Shehri, coach of the Saudi U23 team, said the tournament provides players the chance to play with several teams, thanking the Qatar Football Association (QFA) for hosting the tournament.
The coach, who led the Saudi national team to the West Asian Championship title, said, “Our goals are clear in this preparatory tournament, centered on implementing the programme that was set by Saudi federation, and we look forward to exploring more players and giving the opportunity to some new faces against Thailand tomorrow will undoubtedly be difficult. Especially since it is a good team and has a distinguished group of talented players.”
He stressed that the Saudi national team’s winning of the last Asian championship bears a greater responsibility and the group is moving step by step and that there as also a need to pump new blood at this stage to maintain the quality of the team.
Issara Sariharu, coach of the Thailand national team, stated that he is looking at good competition with some of the best teams in the continent in this age group. He said: “We are here to develop and improve the performance of the Thai national team, and we want to stand at the level of all players.”
Kyrgyzstan and Kuwait will also face off on Day 1 of the tournament.
Kuwait's Portuguese coach Emilio Peixe said he is expecting the competition to be strong in view of the strength of the participating teams. “What matters is developing the players’ performance and level in order to enter strongly into the next stage,” he said.
In other matches today, Oman will meet South Korea while Iraq take on Vietnam. Both matches will take place at the Thani Bin Jassim Stadium.
The Asian international friendly tournament comes as part of the teams’ preparation for the U-23 Asian Cup finals, which qualifies for the 2024 Paris Olympics, which will be held in Doha.
Qatar 23 squad
Khaled Ali, Muhammad Siraj, Osama Al Tiri, Tamim Mansour (Al Rayyan), Abdullah Al Yazidi, Abdul Rahman Rashid (Al Sadd), Abdullah Al Sulaiti, Jassim Jaber, Amir Hassan (Al Arabi), Abdulaziz Muhammad, Theyab Haroun, Muhammad Emad (Al Duhail), Saif Al Din Hassan, Abdullah Yousef (Al Gharrafa), Faisal Muhammad, Youssef Blida Al Shamal, Ellis Hamid, Abdul Rahman Muhammad Umm Salal, Muhammad Khaled (Al Wakrah), Ali Nader Al Khor, Ali Al Marri, Muhammad Al Mannai Muhammad Hassan (Al Markhiya).