23 Aug 2016
Doha, 23 August 2016: From August 24 to September 2, the Under19 GCC Football Championship will be held at Aspire Academy featuring the youth national teams of Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
The tournament is played at the indoor pitch of Aspire Dome and Qatar's team, in which 23 of 24 players are current or forner student-athletes of Aspire Academy, is playing its first game on Wednesday, August 24, at 4pm against the UAE. After that they are facing Oman (August 26, 6:40pm), Bahrain (August 29, 4pm) and Saudi Arabia (September 2, 6:40pm).
This biannual championship offers the participating teams a good opportunity to prepare for the upcoming AFC U19 Championship that is going to take place in Bahrain in October, where the Qatari are facing Japan, Yemen and Iran in the group stage.
"The GCC Championship is an important part of the preperation for the upcoming AFC Championship. After playing games against national teams from Europe and Africa, the team is now facing Asian countries and this tournament gives the players another chance to play and to get them ready for October", said Aspire Academy Football Director Roberto Olabe.
2016 GCC U19 Football Championship, Aspire Dome:
Wednesday, 24/8/2016: Qatar vs UAE (4pm)
Wednesday, 24/8/2016: Bahrain vs Oman (6:40pm)
Friday, 26/8/2016: UAE vs Saudi Arabia (4pm)
Friday, 26/8/2016: Oman vs Qatar (6:40pm)
Monday, 29/8/2016: Qatar vs Bahrain (4pm)
Monday, 29/8/2016: Saudi Arabia vs Oman (6:40pm)
Wednesday, 31/8/2016: Oman vs UAE (4pm)
Wednesday, 31/8/2016: Bahrain vs Saudi Arabia (6:40pm)
Friday, 2/9/2016: UAE vs Bahrain (4pm)
Friday, 2/9/2016: Saudi Arabia vs Qatar (6:40pm)