By D CHAKRABORTY
Doha: Proud parents dabbed teary eyes and delighted coaches and officials beamed with joy as Qatar’s under-19 national team returned home to a heroes’ welcome yesterday, after winning the country’s maiden Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Under-19 Championship in Myanmar.
Two fire trucks greeted the Qatar Airways plane carrying the young stars with a water canon salute at Hamad International Airport and a band began playing Qatar’s national anthem as captain Ahmad Moein emerged with the winners’ trophy and stepped onto the red carpet that had been laid on the tarmac.
With expressions of elation and surprise, some young players waved to family members while others fought back tears of joy as they posed with the trophy in front of a jubilant crowd that had gathered to welcome them.
The Qatari skipper, who was voted the tournament’s most valuable player, dedicated the victory to the Emir, H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. “It feels great. I want to thank God and all my team-mates. This is the first time Qatar has won the AFC U-19 Championship and I think this is the beginning of a new era for us. I dedicate the trophy to H H the Emir and hopefully we will continue to keep performing,” Moein said before boarding the bus that was waiting to take the team to Corniche for further celebrations.
Qatar remained undefeated throughout the championship and overcame heavyweight teams such as China on their way to the final where they outclassed DPR Korea 1-0.
When asked how it felt to be chosen as the most valuable player of the tournament, Moein said: “I feel great that the best player in the championship was from Qatar. I was not confident about winning the best player trophy in the beginning…but with the support of my team-mates and the way I played during the tournament, my dream came true.”
Told to name their toughest opponents, the Qatari skipper said: “The toughest match was the semi-final against hosts Myanmar, the crowd was so loud.”
It was a particularly sweet moment for the officials of Aspire Academy for Sports Excellence. The entire squad, which did so well in Myanmar, was from Aspire Academy.
Aspire Zone CEO Khalid Al Sulaiteen seemed very pleased. “We have been waiting for something like this for a very long time. You can see people are so happy for what Qatar has achieved. We have been criticised for a long time but it is not easy to change the mindset of people. To tell them that they need to sleep on this time, eat this kind of food. What you see today is the result of 10 years’ work. This is the 10th year of the academy, which is really not that long, and now we are getting champions in football, athletics, squash, table tennis.”
He also hoped that this victory would send out a message to FIFA and the world about football’s growth in Qatar. “We can now tell them that we are not just investing on nice stadiums and buildings. We are building a strong team. There are lots of countries with millions and millions of people, yet they are not doing anything.”
Al Sulaiteen said now the focus will be on training these players for the Under-20 World Cup in New Zealand next year. “When we went to Myanmar, we weren’t expecting to win. But, now, if you go back and analyse the team’s performances, you will see we have scored 14 goals and we have the best players, best defenders. So all the statistics give a very proud indication of what we have. And we really need to concentrate on this team and support them and put them on a plan for the 2015 Under-20 World Cup in New Zealand,” he said.
Aspire Zone’s CEO said now parents would also be more eager to send their kids to Aspire Academy. “Before people thought it was a normal football club. But now they see what we do for them. Lots of people are amazed after seeing how we design the programme for each player from a scientific point of view, from an educational point of view and performance point of view.”
Al Sulaiteen also hoped that the future would bring more success and extended his congratulation to H H Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani and the Qatar Football Assocation (QFA). “Now our expectations have been increased. I would like to thank Sheikh Jasim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani who is behind all this. Also, I would like to congratulate the QFA and Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmad Al Thani and all his board members.
THE PENINSULA
