Asian Champions Qatar to face India in World Cup And AFC Asian Cup qualifiers

DOHA, September 10, 2019 - Qatar will be keen to continue their roaring form as they take on India in the second match of the World Cup Qatar 2022 and AFC Asian Cup China 2023 qualifying campaign at Al Sadd Stadium in Doha on Tuesday.Asian champions Qatar turned on the style to thrash Afghanistan 6-0 in their first match last week, with Almoez Ali bagging a hat-trick.Though the win, on record, helped Qatar end their four-match winless run, Al Annabi have never failed to impress after their Asian Cup triumph in the UAE.Their defeats after that triumph came at the hands of Brazil in a friendly, and Argentina and Colombia at the Copa America, while Felix Sanchez's men held Paraguay to a 2-2 draw in the South American continental competition.Those results have only made Qatar tougher and stronger and they will start as firm favourites against India on Tuesday.Coach Sanchez said they were ready for the challenge of India.“It's another game another challenging one," said Sanchez at the pre-match press conference. “We are confident that we will play a good game tomorrow.The Spaniard was lavish in praise of his players when asked about the secret of the team's success.“The most important reason for our success is the players we have. We have very talented players and that's why we won the Asian Cup in the UAE," said the Spaniard.“We put in a lot of work, we try to keep improving. Our first target is to qualify for the Asian Cup and of course to have a good team to compete in the 2022 World Cup. The players are working very hard they are very committed to playing at the highest level," he said.India coach Igor Stimac said anything was possible in football, even though he conceded that Qatar were too strong. “In football everything is possible. You never give up, do your best. To talk too much about Qatari players is not necessary," said Croatian Stimac who was in Charge of Qatar Stars League side Al Shahania in 2016-17.“They are becoming very strong not just in Asia, but they can match many European national teams. In a couple of years, they will be able to play the very best.“Their physical strength is great, their speed is fantastic. Their technical ability and movements are brilliant so when I look now and study the Qatari team, it's difficult to find weak points," said Stimac.The former defender who was in the team when Croatia finished third in the World Cup in 1998, said India have a good chance to progress from the group.India suffered heartbreak in the first game against Oman as they led till the 82nd minute only to lose the match 2-1 and Stimac said they need to improve their defending.“We need to improve our defending in the final moments of the game and also our finishing.“If everything goes well against Afghanistan and Bangladesh we will get a chance to surprise Oman in the away game," said Stimac.But the match against Qatar on Tuesday will undoubtedly be the toughest challenge in the group for India.

Katara to witness soccer action as teams dribble on the beach at Qatar 2019

DOHA, September 10, 2019-Out of the 14 sports that will be featuring at the inaugural edition of the ANOC World Beach Games Qatar 2019 from October 12 to 16, soccer, the king of sports, promises to be one of the major attractions at the Katara Beach in Doha.In all, a total of 24 male and female teams, will be competing for fame and glory at the Games. The men's event will witness the participation of 192 athletes from 16 nations while 80 players from eight nations will be involved in the women's event.At the draw ceremony held on August 27, four men's groups were drawn with Brazil, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates and Morocco in Group A while Italy, Spain, Mexico and Solomon Islands make up Group B. Iran, Paraguay, Senegal and Ukraine are in Group C and Russia, Japan, Uruguay and El Salvador will play in Group D. In the women's event, Spain, Brazil, Cape Verde and Mexico contest Group A, while Britain, Russia, the US and Paraguay are in Group B.According to the regulations of the tournament, the top two teams from each group will go into the quarter-finals in the men's event while the top two from each group goes into semis for women. They then compete for medals according to the system of the playoffs.Historically, the first official beach soccer tournament was created in Rio de Janeiro in 1950 to unite neighbourhood small tourneys that has been played since 1940.The surge in popularity, brought about through the participation of famous players including Eric Cantona, legendary Spanish strikers Michel and Julio Salinas and Brazilian stars such as Romário, Júnior and Zico, has helped to expand television coverage to large audiences in over 170 countries worldwide since its inauguration.FIFA became the global governing body of the sport in 2005 and the first FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup was held in the same year at the Copacabana Beach, its 'spiritual home', in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil with France defeating Portugal 1-0 in a penalty shootout, following a 3-3 draw after extra-time, to emerge champions.As per the game's rule, a match is played by two teams, each consisting of not more than five players, one of whom is the goalkeeper and a match lasts a total of 36 minutes divided into three equal periods of 12 minutes, unless otherwise mutually agreed between the referee and the two teams. Unlike conventional soccer, up to a maximum of seven substitutes may be used in any match played in an official competition organised under the auspices of FIFA, the confederations or the member associations.The field of play is divided into two halves by an imaginary halfway line marked by two red flags located outside the pitch and the imaginary central point of this imaginary line is the exact position for the kick-off and certain free kicks. The pitch must be a minimum of 35m (37m max) in length and minimum of 26m (28m max) in width. The penalty area is the area on the pitch between the goal line and an imaginary parallel line at 9m from the goal line and marked by two yellow flags placed next to each touch line outside the pitch.The ball is spherical and made of leather or another suitable material and has a circumference of not less than 68cm and not more than 70cm. It weighs no more than 440g and no less than 400g at the start of the match and has a pressure of between 0.4 and 0.6 atmospheres at sea level. Fouls in beach soccer are penalised with a free kick or a penalty kick like its conventional counterpart.Free kicks are awarded for various fouls. All free kicks are direct free kicks which has to be taken by the player who was fouled, unless awarded for deliberate handling. The laws specify that all players apart from the opposing goalkeeper must clear a zone between the kicker and the goal. Because of this and the small playing area, all free kicks represent a good opportunity to score. Penalties are awarded for fouls within the penalty area.The beach soccer event of the competition kicks off on October 11 and will last for six days with the finals played on October 16. More than 1,300 athletes from around 90 countries are expected at the ANOC World Beach Games Qatar 2019 with action split between the Katara, Aspire and Al Gharafa beach venues in Doha.

Team Qatar to prepare for AFC U-23 Championship finals with a friendly against Jordan

DOHA, September 9 ,2019 – Qatar's Olympic football team will lock horns against Jordanian counterparts in a second international friendly on Monday , that in preparation for AFC U-23 Championship finals will take place from 8-26 January in Thailand.AFC U-23 Championship 2020 acts as a qualifying tournament to the prestigious 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympic Games.The national olympic squad includes : Mohammed Ismail Abushanab, Amro Seraj, Nasser Abdulsalam, Ilyas Ahmed, Andiy Syahputra, Abdullah Ali Al Saai, Ahmed Al Janehi, Salah Hassan (Al Gharafa), Khaled Muneer, Ahmed Suhail, Mohammed Waad (Al Wakrah), Ahmed Al Sebaei, Shehab Al Leythi, Khaled Mohammed (Al Duhail), Hazem Shehata, Yazan Naim, Hassan Balank (Umm Salal), Abdulrahman Mohammed Fahmy, Abdulrashid Umaru (Al Ahli), Adel Bader, Ahmed Al Menhali (Al Sailiya), Bahaa Al Leythi, Youssef Ayman (Qatar), Hussain Bahzad (Al Sadd), Ibrahim Masoud (Al Rayyan), Khalifa Al Malki (Al Arabi).Qatar qualified for the 2020 AFC U-23 Championship after topping their qualifying group with seven points from three games, finishing ahead of Oman on goal difference. Afghanistan and Nepal came third and fourth respectively.

Qatar Team shine in GCC Aquatics Championships

Kuwait, September 09, 2019- The Qatari swimming team claimed the title of junior competitions at the 27th GCC Aquatics Championships concluded in Kuwait on Sunday.Qatar claimed 34 medals including 17 gold medals, 10 silver medals and 7 bronze medals.Qatar's Abdullah Ahmed won the gold medal of 100m freestyle event for the 11-12 years category, and Omar Ashraf clinched the gold medal of 200m breaststroke event for the 13-14 years category.Mohammed Mahmoud grabbed the gold medal of 200m individual medley for the 15-17 years category, while Ibrahim Hilal won the gold medal of 50m backstroke event for the 11-12 years category.Yousef Al Khulaifi and Yusuf Ashraf claimed the gold and silver medals of 50m backstroke event for the 13-14 years category.Omar Ashraf won the gold medal and Abdullah Al Khaldi won the silver medal of 200m butterfly for the 13-14 years category.Tamim Mohammed took the silver medal of 100m freestyle event for the 13-14 years category, and Ahmed Tariq captured the bronze medal of 1500m freestyle event for the category 15-17 years.

Team Qatar prepare for Tokyo Olympics qualifiers

MADRID, September 8, 2019 - Qatar men's handball team will hold two week long training program in Spain until September 19 in the frame of their preparation for AHF men's qualification event for Tokyo Olympics 2020 will take place from 17-26 October in Doha.Qatar's men handball team have played two friendly matches recently in Doha before heading to Spain, in the first match they defeated Duhail team 29-20 and outclassed beach handball team 32-26 in the second encounter.Doha will host Tokyo Olympics qualifiers for the second time in row, where 8 teams are pooled in two groups to compete in the qualifications, group A includes, Qatar, KSA, India and Hong Kong, while group b will see together Kuwait, Bahrain, South Korea and Iran.

Team Qatar win 17 medals in GCC Aquatics Championships

Kuwait, September 08, 2019- The Qatari swimming team claimed 17 medals on Saturday in the 27th edition of GCC Aquatics Championships 2019 in Kuwait.In Morning session, Qatar's Mohammed Fahad Hussain claimed the bronze medal of 800m freestyle event while Karim Salah won the gold medal of 50m freestyle event.Moreover, Abdullah Ahmed and Mohammed Aziz clinched the gold and the silver medals of 50m freestyle event for boys under 14 years event while Omar Ashraf took the gold medal of 200m individual medley.In evening session, team Qatar claimed 8 medals including 3 gold medals, 2 silver medals and 3 bronze medals.Qatar's squad: Abdurrahman Hesham, Abdulaziz Al Obaidli, Waleed Daloul, Yousef Al Khenji, Nasser Al Naimi, Faisal Al Sulaiti, Mohammed Al Rashdi, Saad Al Sulaiti, Abdullah Al Hamayda and Rashed Al Rumaihi.