11 Sep 2014
?Doha, 11 September, 2014: On Thursday the world-class handball team of FC Barcelona visited Aspire Academy for a guided tour through the facilities and was welcomed on behalf of Aspire Academy by Andreas Bleicher, Chief Advisor International Football Affairs.
The Spanish team is currently in Doha to defend their “IHF Super Globe” title from last year and they started successfully with wins against hosts Al-Sadd de Qatary, the current African champions Tunisia’s Espérance, and Sydney University that represents the Oceania area. “It’s always a great experience to play clubs from other continents, because you have the chance to play against teams with prefer different styles and each year the competition is getting stronger”, commented handball superstar Nikola Karabatic.
The successful French central back and former “IHF World Player of the Year”, who won gold at two Summer Olympics and holds two World Championships tiles and also three European Championship titles, sees the tournament as good preparation for the “World Men's Handball Championship” that takes place in Doha from 15 January to 1 February 2015. “You get the chance to get to know Doha and I am really looking forward to the World Cup, which I am sure is going to be a great event for the athletes and the country of Qatar.” His level of motivation for the upcoming competition is quite high. “Since I won the European Championship with France this year in Denmark, my personal goal is, of course, winning gold in Doha next year.”
The facilities of Aspire Academy also impressed the players. “I haven’t seen anything like it. The facilities are remarkable and you have so many choices of sports that you can do here. It is very impressive and probably the perfect environment for athletes to prepare for big events”, Karabatic said.