10 Jan 2016
Doha, 10 January 2016. There are only a few days to go until the AFC U-23 Championship 2016 kicks off in Doha from 12-30 January, 16 Asian teams will compete for the title. The top three teams from the tournament will then automatically qualify for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.
The tournament is also a great opportunity to present Aspire Academy to Qatar and the rest of the world. A total of 21 of the 23 players in the squad, in addition to all of the coaching staff, are members of the Aspire family. The team is coached by Felix Sanchez from Spain, who guided the nation’s U-19 team to the AFC Championship title in Myanmar in 2014, and who has subsequently brought in talented players such as Akram Afif, whose winning goal secured the U-19 AFC Champions title for Qatar two years ago, and also Ahmad Moein, the 2014 ‘AFC Young Player of the Year’, in a bid to build an Olympic-level team.
For the AFC U-23 Championship, Qatar was drawn into Group A alongside Syria, Iran and China, who will be the team’s first opponent on Tuesday 12 January. After intense preparation which ended with a 1-0 win against Belgium in the final scrimmage game on Thursday 7 January, the players are looking forward to the start of the tournament.
“This is a big tournament and all the participating teams are good quality. Qualifying for Rio will not be easy, but we will do our best to achieve this goal, and the support of our fans in the stands will be extra motivation for us”, said Ahmed Fadel. His teammate Tamim Almuhaiza added: “The team has prepared really well and we’re ready to hit the pitch for our first game. We’re going to play a very focused game. We know that by finishing in the top three, we can qualify for the Rio Olympic Games and so we’re making every effort to make this dream a reality.”
Qatar’s games in Group A:
Tuesday, January 12: Qatar vs China (Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium, Doha, 7.30pm)
Friday, January 15: Qatar vs Iran (Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, 7.30pm)
Monday, January 18: Qatar vs Syria (Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, 7.30pm)