February 9 – Qatar’s senior team may have disappointed at the recently completed Asian Cup in Australia after their Gulf Cup win, but their U17 players are making a global imprint at the fourth Al Kass International Cup tournament for clubs, currently being played in Doha, Qatar.
With the group stages completed, Aspire International are one of three unbeaten pool winners alongside England’s Arsenal and Brazil’s Sao Paulo. The fourth pool winners were Italy’s AC Milan.
The 12 team tournament also features teams from Real Madrid, PSG, Schalke O4, Juventus, River Plate, Vissel Kobe, Atletico Madrid and the Aspire Academy.
The group winners and runners-up now progress to knock-out rounds with play-offs ranking all 12 teams. The 10-day tournament, arguably the most exclusive top level club U17 tournament in the world, kicked off last Thursday February 5 and completes this Sunday February 15.
The tournament is designed to showcase “the stars of tomorrow” and is staged by the Aspire Zone Foundation and Qatar Football Association, and sponsored by Qatar sports channel Al Kass. An annual event, its objective is to “contribute to building on the foundations of a proud footballing nation, up to the FIFA World Cup 2022 and beyond,” says the tournament website.
Aspire International are the tournament holders and it looks like it will be difficult to take their crown away after impressive group wins against Real Madrid and Schalke 04 with clean sheets in both matches.
The game of the tournament so far was in Group C, dubbed the ‘Group of Death’ with AC Milan, Juventus and River Plate fighting for the two qualification slots for the knockout rounds. The Argentines produced two entertaining displays, with the game against AC Milan probably the most thrilling of the group matches. Defensive naivety cost the Argentineans, as they squandered a 2-0 half time advantage to eventually lose 4-3. However, they recovered from the disappointment to beat Juventus 2-0 and go through to the knockout stages.
In the quarter-finals starting tomorrow Arsenal meet River Plate, while Aspire Academy play AC Milan. On Wednesday Aspire International play PSG while Sao Paulo face Real Madrid.
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