03 Feb 2013
With the semi-finalists decided, attention today at the Al Kass International Cup turned to the play-offs which would decide for the finishing positions for those teams that missed out on the knock out stages and preparations for those teams in tomorrow\s (Sunday) semi-final matches.
With two games to be played at Aspire between Yokahama vs Al Nassr and Esperance Sportive vs Zamalek, there was plenty of action for the fans to enjoy.
Back at the team hotel, those players that played in Friday’s Quarter Finals went through a range of recovery sessions with their team coaches and physios.
Fresh from their victory over the Spanish side, Fluminense took to the pool for a recovery session. With a semi-final to look forward to tomorrow, the young Brazilian stars had an extended period of preparation and conditioning with their trainer and coach.
Whilst his charges were in the pool Manager Marcos Valadares “We are very glad to be into the semi-finals because it was a very tough game against Real Madrid. We prepared a lot for the game, because we knew it would not be easy playing against such a talented team. We are very proud to have won, because Real Madrid are such a big team in world football – one of the giants of the European game. We tried very hard to score the second goal, because we wanted to avoid penalties because they can depend highly on luck.
But we are through now and it thanks to our goalkeeper Marcos Felipe because he was the hero with the save. He was the star for the team, and now we must prepare for another big game in the semi-final. Today we are preparing the team, we will finish this pool session, and then we will be back on the training pitch to work on drills.This is the pressure of tournament football; you only have a short period of time between matches.”
Despite losing their match against Internazionale Milano, the Liverpool players were in good spirits as they also took part in a swimming pool based training & recuperation session under the watchful eye of Liam Kershaw, Liverpool U18 Physiotherapist: “This is a chance for players who played against Inter to stretch and loosen up. After playing three 90 minute matches in the space of a few days, it is quite demanding on the muscles and the joints so we have been trying to get them moving. A lot of them have been quite stiff after the games so this is a good way for them to get looser and work on their flexibility afterwards.
We prepare on getting them in good as condition as they can ahead of the next sessions and next games. It is something we do back at home after some of our games. We’ll do a recovery session a couple of days after our games so the players are used to it.
A lot of the players are feeling tired and fatigued, especially after a tough game against Inter Milan. Once they do things like this they generally start to feel looser and are more able to do a training session. Recovery is a really important part of football. If you was to go straight back out and do another training session or play another game without doing things like this then the chances of picking up an injury is a lot higher.
It is important to strike a balance of getting enough time out on the pitch but also not over exertion themselves or over stretch their muscles. In a normal training week we have to plan parts of our regime to high and low intensity and be careful. I have to say we don’t normally a session like this normally it isn’t in a roof top pool in the beautiful sunshine overlooking a city like Doha, so this is a new experience for me and the players.
We were disappointed not to have beaten Milan, but we have a big game tomorrow (Sunday) against Real Madrid which should be an interesting encounter”
As his team wasn’t playing today, Liverpool’s Strength and Conditioning Coach Remy Tang took an opportunity to have a full tour of the Aspire Zone and he liked what he saw: “The tour around Aspire was extremely impressive. Top draw; I’m totally blown away by the place. I was fortunate to get a close up of the facilities and I’ve got to say I’ve never seen such an impressive place. It’s an enormous; they could host any event you want here. I was really impressed by it.
The players here will benefit from training and playing their games in such a first class venue. Anybody from my background, working in strength and conditioning, in fitness industry or in sports science would absolutely love to work here where there are so many resources and equipment.
Until now, there hasn’t been anything like this in England, but I’ve visited St George’s (the England Football Associations, new training centre) recently which has a very good set up, in fact very similar to Aspire, and it is great to have a training facility of that standard back in England.”
Four matches are to be played tomorrow (Sunday 3rd February) the two semi finals, and two play off games between the losing teams from the quarter finals.
Semi Finals:
1. Fluminense vs Internazionale Milano (KO 16:30)
2. Paris St Germain vs Boca Juniors (KO 19:00)
Play Offs:
1. Real Madrid vs Liverpool (KO 16:30)
2. Aspire Qatar vs Aspire International (KO 19:00)
Remember entry to the tournament is free, and the Al Kass International Cup at the Aspire Zone is the perfect opportunity to come and see the stars of tomorrow today!
The tournament is hosted by The Qatar Football Association, Al KassSport Channels and the AspireZone Foundation.
You can follow all the action from the tournament online at;http://alkassinternationalcup.com/ and via the tournaments social media channels;http://facebook.com/alkassintlcup @alkassintlcup.Matches will also be broadcast on the Al Kass sports channel, please see listings press for more details.