26 Oct 2014
Doha, 26 October 2014: On Saturday evening the successful Qatar U-19 national team arrived back in Doha and hundreds of people came to Hamad International Airport to welcome the team at the ministerial lounge. HH Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al-Thani the Personal Representative of HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani led the team’s greetings upon their arrival at Hamad International Airport. Also present were H E Salah bin Ghanim Al-Ali, the Minister of Youth and Sports, H E Sheikh Saoud Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Secretary General of the Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC), in addition to many senior sports officials and heads of sports clubs, associations and a large number of retired football players.
HH Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al-Thani expressed his full satisfaction with the unprecedented achievement by the Qatari youth football team with the support of HH the Father Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, and of HH the Emir. He noted that the direct support of HH the Emir made this victory possible, considering it to be a new episode in the Qatari achievements’ series, after ranking the first among Arab Countries in the 2014 Incheon Asian Games. Concluding his statement, HH sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al-Thani extended thanks to all those who contributed to this achievement in Qatar Football Association and Aspire Academy and thanked especially the athletes’ parents who gave a lot particularly during the earlier stages.
Proud supporters and families
Among the people eagerly awaiting the arrival of the team were also families and friends of the players as well as a great number of management, staff and students from Aspire Academy. All of them were proud to share this special moment. “We have been waiting a long time for a success like this and this result will help Aspire Academy a lot, because it is evidence that our mission is right. But, of course, it will be even more important to keep up the good work in order to achieve good results at the World Cup in 2022,” said Badr Al-Hay, Director of Education and Student Care of the Academy.
The victory of Qatar’s U-19 national team at the AFC U-19 Championship in Myanmar also meant to lot to the parents of the players. “I am not only proud of my son, but of the whole team”, said Hassan Mohammed Ali Abu Hanifa, proud father of goalkeeper Yousef Hassan. “The players and their parents of the team have known each other for six or even seven years and this created a bond of friendship between the families and we are all happy that our children were rewarded for their hard work and made this dream come true.” He also acknowledged the important role of Aspire Academy for the players. “The Academy did everything for the players and I want to thank all of them for their support.”
Another family that was very excited about the arrival of the plane was, of course, the family of head coach Felix Sanchez. “We are very proud that they did so well in Myanmar. It was their dream to win it and the victory is a reward for all the hard work they did before the tournament. We have followed all the games, either at home, over internet or together with other families and we stayed in touch with Felix via Skype and Facetime, but after one month we are very happy that he is finally coming back home,” said Miriam Sanchez.