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Preparations on track for AGCC Under-23

The preparations looks perfect for the second edition of the AGCC Under-23 Championship which is set to kick off at the Aspire Stadium in the Qatari capital Doha with six teams in the fray on Wednesday.

All games will be held at the 5,000-seat artificial grass indoor stadium for the first time.

Hosts Qatar will entertain Oman in the Group A opener which kicks off at 5.30pm UAE time.

In another clash of the same group, Saudi Arabia will lock horns against traditional rivals Kuwait at 9pm. Meanwhile, the UAE national team will start their campaign in the competition on Friday, June 30 against Saudi Arabia as Bahrain will face Oman.

The championship receives the highest attention as the Saudis are keen to retain the title which they won two years ago in Riyadh.

The Higher Organising Committee have completed all preparations in collaboration with the local organising committee for the kick off of the Gulf extravaganza.

The committee held extensive meetings and visited all the venues and places including the indoor stadium to ensure that everything was well in place. It has also named all the sub-committees to attend to the requirements of the delegations which have touched down at the Doha International Airport on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the UAE Under-23 national team players said they were impressed with the Aspire facility which would host the matches on the first artificial grass indoor football stadium in the region.

The national team carried out their first training session at the state-of-the-art facility under the supervision of the head coach Ali Mahdi and his assistants Hassan Al Abdouli, Patrice Kutard and Hassan Ismail.

All the 22 players took part in the work-out. The players warmed-up and worked on tactical strategies of the game as Mahdi kept stressing on attacking strategy. The keepers’ coach Hassan Ismail carried out special training session for the three keepers Yousuf Abdul Rahman, Rashid Ali and Adel Al Hosani. The three ‘keepers showed great form. The national team will carry out their second session at one of the Aspire facilities later in the evening.

UAE team’s manager Mohammed Obaid Hammad said the championship is not going to be easy at all.

“It’s very difficult to say who’s going to get the job done considering the fact that all the six teams have equal chance to make their presence felt.

“Most of the teams have played against each other in friendly or regular competitions at the youth level. This is in addition to that the confrontations between the Gulf teams are always difficult to predict and there are so many factors which affect the outcome apart from the mere technical aspect.

“Moreover, the tournament will be played in two groups and all the players will be under pressure. Our immediate target is to make it into the semi-final and thereafter we will see what to do.”

Hammad said the UAE Olympic national team have prepared well during the external training camp in the German city of Nuremberg which lasted for three weeks.

“We have played five warm-ups with different German sides and benefited a lot from them,” he added.

“This championship is a very important stop-over in our campaign during the Asian Games in China and the Olympic Games qualifiers London 2112. There is nothing to worry about regarding the absence of some key players,” he concluded.

Mohammed Khalfan Al Rumaithi, president of the UAEFA remained in touch with the delegation through his telephone conversations with the team’s manager Mohammed Obaid Hammad.

The UAE football boss thanked all the members of the delegation for their great efforts in the external training camp and wished them all success. He also reiterated that all the UAE is behind the team and they are confident that they are able to make pride for their nation.

hisham@khaleejtimes.com