25 Aug 2015
Doha, 25 August 2015. After an impressive 4-0 win over the United Arab Emirates in their final group game, Qatar made it to the semi-finals of the GCC Under-17 Championship that is currently being hosted at Aspire Dome. The next opponent they are facing to be able to progress to the final is Oman on Thursday at 4pm.
The 1-4 defeat in the first game against Saudi Arabia put the Qatari team, comprised of student-athletes of Aspire Academy, under quite some pressure: after UAE’s win over Saudi Arabia, only a victory would help them to make it to the last four. Thanks to a strong performance and goals scored by captain Binhalabi (2) and striker Abdullatif (2), Qatar defeated the UAE 4-0 and kept their chances for winning the championship alive.
“The players were well aware of their responsibilities on the pitch and knew that they couldn’t risk a loss of focus during the game. They were very concentrated from the beginning to the end and that made the difference,” said Qatar’s head coach Arno Buitenweg. His expectations for the semi-final? “Oman won both games in their group, they are well organized and difficult to beat, but at this stage everything is possible.”