The under-17 team of the Brazilian club Associação Chapecoense, which suffered a major tragedy in the month of November, will play two matches in Qatar on the side-lines of the Al Kass Cup International football tournament, the organisers of the event revealed in Doha on Tuesday.
Associação Chapecoense, will play against the team finishing in the 12th position in the Al Kass Cup International at Aspire Zone on January 27.
Besides the Brazilian side, another under-17 team Syrian Dreams, which is not part of the Al Kass Cup tournament will be seen in action at Aspire Zone on January 28.
“Al Kass is honoured to host two exceptionally special teams as part of the friendly matches taking place later this week. The matches are set to lift the spirits of Syrian Dreams and Brazilian club Chapecoense, who have been struck by immense tragedy and setbacks in recent times,” the organisers said.
Associação Chapecoense and Syrian dreams will again be seen in action at Aspire Zone on January 30, when the two clash after the third place match of the Al Kass Cup.
In November, a plane carrying the senior team of Associação Chapecoense to Colombia for their Copa Sudamericana final first leg against Atletico Nacional crashed killing 71 people while six survived the horrific crash.
Chapecoense first-team were awarded the Copa Sudamericana trophy and gold medals before playing a friendly match against Palmeiras – the first game the team played following the horrific loss.
During the awards ceremony, the team displayed Al Kass banner as a show of appreciation for an invitation received by Al Kass to visit Doha for a friendly match against the teams who don’t make the knock-out round of the tournament.
This month Brazilian club Chapecoense, has made an emotional return to the game of football after the team suffered immense tragedy last year when their first team squad were killed in a plane crash.
The Under-17 football tournament in Qatar is contested by 12 teams, with eight teams making it to the quarter-finals, which start on Thursday.
The next generation of global football stars from around the world are seen in action in the ten-day competition.
The 12 teams participating in this year’s tournament represent some of the most storied clubs in international football, including Real Madrid (Spain), Bayern München (Germany), and Paris Saint-Germain (France), giving Doha crowds the opportunity to see the potential
superstars of the future.
Qatar’s Aspire Academy will add local flavour to the tournament, which was won last year by Aspire Football Dreams. Other participating teams include PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands), Kashiwa Reysol (Japan), FC Red Bull Salzburg (Austria), AS Roma (Italy), Eintracht Frankfurt (Germany), Al-Ahli Saudi FC (Saudi Arabia), Raja Casablanca (Morocco), and Espérance de Tunis (Tunisia).
The semi-finals of the Al Kass Cup International will be played on January 29 while the final will be held on January 31 at Aspire Zone.
