By Rizwan Rehmat
DOHA: World Cup hosts Qatar are confident their plans to harness homegrown young talent will drive its ambition of producing ‘strong national sides’ in the future, a top football official said yesterday.
Qatar’s Olympic side on Monday beat Syria 4-2 to reach the quarter-finals of the AFC U-23 Championship.
It was the home team’s third consecutive win after Qatar - coached by Felix Sanchez -beat China 3-1 and Iran 2-1 in the opening two games.
Around 15 months ago, more or less the same bunch won the AFC U-19 crown by beating North Korea in the final at an event in Myanmar in October 2014.
The Asian title allowed the Qatar side qualify for the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup in New Zealand. Sanchez, the former Barcelona youth coach, has managed the three sides.
A few years ago, the Qatari youngsters were thrust into the national spotlight at Aspire Academy and then purposefully asked to appear at Belgian side KAS Eupen and Spanish team Cultural Deportiva Leonesa.
“We have had this (QFA and Aspire Academy) project for the past five-six years,” Mansoor Al Ansari, Secretary General, QFA, said yesterday.
“We won the AFC U-19 finals and then we reached the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup,” Al Ansari said.
“We are continuing the develop these players because we realise that there is a gap when the players graduate from Aspire - they don’t get the opportunity to be part of the playing XI at the Qatar Stars League (QSL) clubs.
“So they are sent into a program that sees them go to Europe and compete at two different teams in Belgium and Spain. This gives them the opportunity they are looking for. They want to play and they do that at a high level (in Belgium and Spain),” he said.
“It’s massive work,” Al Ansari said when asked about the project.
“The whole football industry has been developed so that we have strong national teams (at senior and junior levels). Everybody at QFA will confirm what I just said,” Al Ansari explained.
“Aspetar, in my opinion, was developed to support medically all sports initiatives and football is the biggest sport in Qatar. Aspetar has the National Sports Medicine Program (NSMP). That provides medical units to every single football club in Qatar.
“Above that, we have a unit that is dedicated to the national teams. It is a unit that has five doctors and 10-15 phyisos, 10-15 message therapists and nutritionists etc. You name it and the list goes on.
“So there is a huge collaboration between QFA and Aspetar. I have only highlighted one aspect. Then there is Aspire Academy. You have performance coordinators. QSL, QFA and Aspire Academy work together and share the relevant data.
“So we know exactly a player is doing matches, training and or while conducting gym sessions,” Al Ansari said.
“We share the (acquired) information with the coaches so that they know how to utilise that during games or camps. The football calendar - let’s call it our competition structure - is built around our national team games and camps.
“So when the national team has a game, we get the players released a week before. There is collaboration between the league (QSL) and us (QFA). Everybody tries to ensure that the club players are playing at a very high level.
“All of that put together is what makes the national where it is today. I keep emphasizing on this - the reward of having a strong national team is the result of so many people carrying out so many roles. It is a lot of work, exhausting work.
“Everything we do, will have a legacy. It is not as if will conduct the 2022 FIFA World Cup and then football stops in Qatar. No, the work continues. Football will continue. You will always build on what you have.
“Having such a program has been hugely beneficial. This whole idea is to continue on this development,” Al Ansari said.
The Peninsula
