HH the Amir welcomes Qatar National Team, Champions of AFC Asian Cup 2019

Doha, February 03, 2019- (QNA) - HH the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani welcomed Saturday the Qatar national team, champions of AFC Asian Cup 2019, upon their arrival to Doha International Airport.HH the Amir congratulated the champions, the coaching and administrative staff, praising the special performances and sportsmanship shown by the team throughout and wished them well in future competitions.Also welcoming the team were HH Personal Representative of HH the Amir Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al-Thani, a number of their excellencies Sheikhs and ministers, high-ranking officials, the players' families, first team and Olympic team players, members of the media, in addition to a large crowd of citizens and residents. (QNA)

Qatar Crowned Champions of AFC Asia Cup

Abu Dhabi, February 02, 2019-The Qatari football national team were crowned Friday for the first time in their history as the champions of the AFC Asian Cup in its 17th edition hosted in the UAE, after defeating Japan 3-1 in the final.Al Moez Ali, Abdulaziz Hatem and Akram Afif scored in the 12, 27th and 83rd minute respectively. Japan's consolation goal was scored by Takumi Minamino in the 69th minute.Qatar became the fourth Arab team to win the competition after Kuwait (1980), Saudi Arabia (1984, 1988, 1996), and Iraq (2007). The team also virtually broke all the competition's record on their way to the title. Ali became the competition's record goal scorer, after he got nine goals this year.Qatar had a perfect competition, winning all their matches in the first round to lead their Asian Group E with a total score of 9 points from 3 consecutive wins against Lebanon (2-0), North Korea (6-0), and Saudi Arabia (2-0).In the knockout rounds, the team overcame Iraq's in the last 16 before eliminating South Korea in the quarter-finals with the same result. After that, a clear four-goal win over hosts UAE in the semi-final. On the other side of the final, Japan started their Asian tour with a difficult win over Turkmenistan (3-2), then edged past Oman (1-0), before winning their third group match at the expense of Uzbekistan (2-1) to top the Group F with maximum points as well. The Japanese team eliminated Saudi Arabia in the Round of 16 with a 1-0 win, the same result that beat Vietnam in the quarter-finals, before Japan three past Iran.Qatar's best performance in the Asian Cup was twice qualifying for quarter-finals; once in 2000 in Lebanon and the second time in 2011 in Qatar.Qatar's striker Ali proved to be the biggest phenomenon of the competition this year, after scoring a record nine goals in seven matches. What is even more surprising is that the youngster plays as a winger for Al Sadd and has scored only one goal in 13 matches in the league. Akram Afif also is a record holder, with eight assists being the highest ever number of goals created by a player in a single competition. He achieved that in just six matches. He also created a total of 20 chances, miles more than any other player in the competition.The match started out cautiously from the two teams, but it was the Japanese team who were slightly more offensive. The Japanese team continued their attacks, but the defensive focus of the Qatari players kept the attacks at bay. They then started launching a number of counter attack with the breakthrough coming through Akram Afif, who lifted the ball to Ali, with the latter launching a stupendous scissor kick to give Qatar the lead. Just 15 minutes later, another stunning strike followed when Abdelaziz Hatim found the net from 25 yards.The Qatari side reverted to defense mode, with the target of ending the first half 2-0. That they did.The start of the second half saw the Japanese side come out more motivated and looking to cut back the two-goal deficit. Most of their attacks did not succeed, due to a mixture of Qatar's solid defense and Saad Al Sheeb's impressive goalkeeping skills. Eventually however, Japan managed to pull one goal back in the 69th minute to show that Japan would not lose without a fight.The Qatari players' desire to win were a match to that of their Japanese counterpart. They got a penalty thanks to the VAR technology, which helped the referee detect a handball against the Japanese side. Akram Afif stepped up, and gave the Qatari side a two-goal safety cushion.In addition to winning the title, the team's striker Ali became the player who scored the most goals in one competition. He broke Iranian legend Ali Daei's record of eight goals, which ironically he scored also in the 1996 edition hosted by the UAE. Ali also became the highest scoring Arab player in the history of the competition, sharing the title with UAE's Ali Mabkhot. The latter scored four goals this year, in addition to five goals he scored in 2015.

Qatar to take on Japan in Asian Cup final

Abu Dhabi, February 01, 2019- Qatar national team seek to accomplish a historic achievement for Qatar as they face Japan in the final of Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup UAE 2019 on Friday.Adaam have made impressive record throughout the campaign and they have scored 16 times. Al Adaam have defeated Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Korea Republic and the UAE in AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019.Qatar's top achievements in the Asian Cups were when it reached the quarter-finals in 2000 and 2011, while Japan won four continental titles in 1992, 2000, 2004 and 2011.The AFC announced on Thursday that experienced referee Ravshan Sayfiddinovich Irmatov of Uzbekistan will officiate in the AFC Asian Cup final between Qatar and Japan on Friday.Irmatov, 41, is widely regarded as one of the world's best referees. The Uzbek official will be managing his second AFC Asian Cup final.Irmatov, who managed the 2011 Asian Cup final between Japan and Australia in Qatar, holds the record of officiating in 11 FIFA World Cup matches since his first appearance in 2010.Irmatov won the best Asian referee award five times and also managed the AFC Champions League final on five occasions during his brilliant career.The Uzbek referee managed the Qatar match in the quarter-finals when Al Annabi won 1-0 against South Korea.Irmatov has officiated in the Uzbek League since 2000, as well as at international level since 2003.Head coach Felix Sanchez believes success in Friday's AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 final against Japan would represent an historic achievement for his talented Qatar side.The West Asians head into the eagerly anticipated showdown at Abu Dhabi's Zayed Sports City Stadium looking to claim their first-ever AFC Asian Cup title, while their opponents stand on the brink of winning a record-extending fifth Continental crown.Having seen them shine brightly throughout the competition, Sanchez believes his charges are now ready for one final push as they look to make history for the West Asian nation. "This is definitely the most important game in Qatar's football history," said the Spaniard."We are now obviously at the stage of the tournament where the team is in a confident mood and looking forward to starting the game. Obviously if we win the trophy, it will be Qatar's biggest achievement in terms of football."Hopefully, we can have one more good performance. One of the key things for us is that there is a great team spirit, everyone is working together to achieve the same result."The players are determined to get the victory we want by putting in one more huge effort against Japan so that we can make the Qatari people happy once again and make history.""When we arrived to play in the AFC Asian Cup, our target was to test ourselves against everyone, to be able to compete against all the teams here, and to be able to hold our own against the very best in Asia," declared the Barcelona native."We have had six games and six different stories, there has been pressure during the group stage and then even more pressure during the knockout phase. We trust the team and believe in them."We came here with the hope that we could challenge everyone in Asia, and it is not a surprise to me that we are here as we already knew the qualities of our players.""The game against Japan is now another story for us. Japan have great quality and have won the AFC Asian Cup many times. However, we are ready for the challenge and will play in a way to negate the threats they have."We know Japan have several strengths and a few weaknesses, so we will need to be excellent throughout the game in order to achieve the win we want."

Preparatory stage students shine in SOP Football Competitions

DOHA, January 31 , 2019 – Preparatory schools students made impressive performance in their football competitions at the Schools Olympic Program 2018-2019 held on Wednesday.Wednesday's football competitions for preparatory schools (boys) at the Aspire Academy playgrounds have seen positive interaction from all students, coaches and Academy officials.In group A competitions, Hamza bin Abdulmotaleb school and Al Emam Al Shafae cruised their way to the third round stage, following their deserving wins.In group B competitions, the winners were Ali bin Abi Taleb school and Religious Institute, while in group C, Abi Obaida and Al Ahnaf schools recorded deserving wins to book their spots in the third round.The SOP is held annually as a collaborative effort of Qatar School Sports Federation (QSSF) and Ministry of Education and Higher Education, with hundreds of student athletes competing from all over Qatar.The SOP committee aims to spread a culture of sports throughout Qatar's schools and to engage the entire community in active and healthy lifestyles while retaining local values and traditions.

American Academy qualify to second round of SOP Basketball competitions

​DOHA, January 30, 2019-The basketball competitions at the 12th edition of the Schools Olympic Program (SOP) were resumed on Tuesday. The American Academy qualified to the second round of boys preparatory schools event after beating Charlemagne Moroccan Schools 31-3. In Primary Schools event, Modern Indian School and Doha Academy quailed to the second round. In girls event, the American Academy edged past Al Manar International School 6-0 and Awfaz School thrashed Step One School 8-0.The SOP is held annually as a collaborative effort of Qatar School Sports Federation (QSSF) and Ministry of Education and Higher Education, with hundreds of student athletes competing from all over Qatar.The SOP committee aims to spread a culture of sports throughout Qatar's schools and to engage the entire community in active and healthy lifestyles while retaining local values and traditions.

Qatar beat UAE, qualify for AFC Asian Cup Final

Doha, January 30, 2019 - Qatar National Team qualified for the final of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup for the first time in their history, after securing 4-0 win against the Emirati counterparts at Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium on Tuesday evening.The first goal was scored by Qatar's Boualem Khoukhi in the 22nd minute of the first half. Almoez Ali scored the second goal in the 37th minute of the first half of the match. The score at the end of the first half stood at 20 in favor of Qatar.In the second half of this semifinals match, Qatar continued its winning streak with Hasan Al Haydos scoring the third goal for Qatar in the 80th minute, and though UAE did have some chances to score, it was unable toIn the extra time of the match (90+3 minutes), Qatar's Hamid Ismail scored the fourth and final score of this semi finals leaving the total score at the end of the match at 40 with Qatar now in the finals with Japan on February 1.The Qatari team topped the Group E with nine points from three matches, beating Lebanon 2-0, North Korea 6-0 and Saudi Arabia 2-0. The Qatari team also won 1-0 against Iraq, and won the quarter-finals against the Korean team 1-0.The Qatari team maintained a clean streak in six consecutive games in the 2019 Asian Cup. (QNA)