13 Feb 2016
Doha, 13 February 2016. Reminiscent of the final match line-up of the 2014 Al Kass International Cup, Aspire Football Dreams and Real Madrid will once again face-off in the finals of this year’s tournament on Monday. In the teams’ previous final battle the Aspire side emerged victorious, yet this year it remains to be seen whether the Spanish strategy can outpace the speedy Aspire Football Dreams once and for all.
In Saturday’s semi-final between Aspire Football Dreams and Inter Milan, it was Njange’s originally failed strike that was recovered by Isaac Nuhu (21’) which eventually put Aspire Football Dreams ahead, with the Aspire side taking the lead with a fine strike from the young player. The Italians were clearly startled to concede such a ‘soft’ goal, especially since it meant conceding their first goal of the tournament. Mohamed Katana Njanje sealed the deal for Aspire in the 86th minute after successfully finishing a counter attack that secured the 2-0 win.
“Inter Milan has one of the best defence strategies in the tournament and we knew that going into this match against them. The first goal came from the strategy we had formed to tackle their defence, while in the second half we gave them more chances, for which we suffered. Regardless, we stuck together as a team and made it through to the final,” said Aspire Football Dreams Head Coach Alexandre Garcia Canedo.
Aspire Football Dreams defender Robert Kumadey is already looking forward to the final against Real Madrid. “We are repeating history here because it was in 2014 that Aspire International and Real Madrid faced-off in the finals. We will stick to our style and strategy and aim to do our best against the Spanish side, although we know that it will not be easy, but we will do our best.”
The final of the 5th edition of the ‘Al Kass International Cup’ takes place on Monday, 15 February 2016, at 6:15pm.