Tonight, our national youth football team begins its campaign in the Asian Cup qualifiers, where it meets its Singaporean counterpart at eight in the evening at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium in Al Duhail in the tenth group. Tonight, at the same time and within the same group, the Jordanian and Hong Kong teams also meet at the Grand Hamad Stadium in Al Arabi.
The ten first-place teams in each group qualify for the finals, along with the five best second-place teams, and they will be joined by the host team, China, champions of the 1985 edition, as China is hosting the tournament for the second time after the first time in 2010.
Al-Annabi, led by its Spanish coach Felix Angel, seeks to achieve victory in the first round to compete strongly for the lead and direct qualification, especially since the competition in the group will not be easy with the presence of the Jordanian team.
The coach decided on the team’s roster for the tournament by including 23 players, namely: Abu Bakr Muhammad, Jalal Amir, “Calhora of Spain,” and Muhammad Fawzi for goalkeeping, and Ibrahim Al-Hassan, Awab Fadil, Jassim Al-Hamad, Bassam Adel, Moaz Ibrahim, Nawaf Al-Yahri, Younis Muhammad, Youssef Muhammad, and Abdullah Mujib. And Mohamed Khaled, “the Spanish Calhora.”
Moamen Muhammad and Jamil Riyad “Spanish Cultural”, Tahseen Muhammad and Salem Reda “Spanish Alcorcon”, Abdul Aziz Al-Bakri “Umm Salal”, Muhammad Hani “Al-Sadd”, Youssef Marai and Ali Muhammad Al-Ahli”, Fayez Marwan “Al-Wakra”, and Ayoub Al-Alawi “Al-Gharafa”. .
Felix Angel: We go into the qualifiers with great passion
Spaniard Felix Angel, Al-Anabi’s U-20 coach, confirmed the team’s readiness for today’s confrontation against its Singaporean counterpart, at the start of its campaign in the Asian Cup qualifiers, which will be held at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium.
The coach added in a statement during the press conference, “We are looking forward to entering the qualifying stage with great passion, as the competition represents a great challenge for us, and we have great ambitions to reach the continental finals, and we must adapt to the conditions of the confrontations that we will play in the group, especially the opening match.” .
Spaniard Angel continued: “We feel well prepared, and we are playing the matches on our home soil and among our fans. It will be an important opportunity to evaluate the level we have reached. I believe that all chances are equal among the teams in the group, and we aim to reach the furthest stage in the qualifiers.”
The coach concluded his statements by emphasizing that the current qualifiers represent an opportunity to discover the players and demonstrate their abilities, pointing out that he will work to evaluate the team’s situation after each match it plays.
Jeremy: Our job is tough
Jeremy Vadzohasny, coach of the Singapore national team, did not hide the difficulty of the task awaiting his country in the qualifiers, in light of the presence of strong teams that have previously won the continental title, such as the Qatari team, champions of the 2016 edition.
The Singapore national team coach added: “We have prepared well and will compete strongly with the rest of the group’s teams. Regardless of the results, the matches will be an opportunity to gain experience, and focus is required, especially in terms of recovery, as the matches are held in a short period of time.”
He said, “Certainly, playing matches here in Qatar is a very positive thing for us, and it will be an opportunity to demonstrate the players’ abilities in the wonderful tournament stadiums.”