30 Aug 2015
Doha, 30 August 2015. On Saturday, the final day of the 'U-17 GCC Cup' at Aspire Academy, the Qatari team faced Kuwait in the third-place play-off game. After a 1-1 draw in regular time, the team, comprised of Academy student-athletes, beat their opponent 4-2 on penalties.
“The boys really deserved to win this game and I am glad they showed mental strength when it came to the penalty shoot-out”, said Qatar’s head coach Arno Buitenweg. “The tournament has been a great learning experience for the players, because each game was quite different. We lost the first game within ten minutes. In the second game the players were very focused and aware of their responsibilities. In the semi-final against the later tournament-winner Oman we came back after being two goals down and lost in additional time. And then we finished the Cup by winning a penalty shoot-out. As I said before, we had to deal with many quite different situations.”
Overall, Buitenweg was satisfied with the tournament. “I could see improvement in the team as well as of individual players and for the players of the generation 2000 it was also a good preparation for the upcoming qualifiers for the U-16 Asian Cup in September.”