02 Feb 2015
Doha, 2 February 2015. The defending champion of the 2014 “Al Kass International Cup”, the Aspire International team, returns to the 2015 edition of the competition with a completely new face; this year players of different clubs and federations from 14 countries across the world that have cooperation’s with Aspire Academy make up this year’s squad in addition to a number of players from the Aspire Football Dreams program.
The multicultural team, with players coming from countries such as Ecuador, Bolivia, North Korea, Gambia, Morocco, Scotland, Kazakhstan, New Zealand and Austria, has been in training for the tournament with Aspire Academy’s coach João Carlos Pereira.
The Portuguese, who joined the Academy after coaching professional teams such as the Swiss Super League-club Servette FC, is leading two daily sessions to prepare his assembled team. “It is a very motivated group of talented young players and we are doing everything we can to grow together as a team,” says Pereira, who has also coached them in action when they played a friendly against Wolfsburg’s U-17 team that ended in a 0-0 draw. “Of course, it’s an advantage that there are at least two players from the same club in the squad as well as team guides from their clubs or federations to provide any additional support.” Being part of such a multicultural team is also a unique experience for the boys. “It’s great to be here and to play in this tournament. It’s a good group of players and we hope that we will be a strong team when the tournament starts,” says Jack Mooney, Scottish U-17 player of Celtic Glasgow. And his teammate Francis Uzoho, from the Aspire Football Dreams program, adds: “True, it’s a new team, but we won the title here last year and our goal is to defend our title.”
For more information about the “Al Kass International Cup” please visithttp://internationalcup.alkass.net/. Al Kass International Cup, Group B: Schalke 04 Real Madrid Aspire International Schedule: Thursday, 5 February 2015: Schalke 04 vs Aspire International (18:35, Aspire Pitch4) Friday, 6 February 2015: Real Madrid vs Schalke 04 (19:45, Aspire Pitch5) Saturday, 7 February 2015: Aspire International vs Real Madrid (19:45, Aspire Pitch4)