Tribune News Network
DOHA
The Qatar national football team returned to Doha on Friday after their training camp held in Birmingham.
The training camp was organised to prepare the Qatari team for the two upcoming 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches against Syria on August 31 and China on September 5.
Spanish coach Felix Sanchiz gave a two-day rest to the players before resuming the training sessions on Sunday.
Qatar will take on Turkmenistan in friendly match in Doha on Wednesday before heading to Malaysia for the Syria qualifier.
The squad:
Hassan al Haydos, Saad al Sheeb, Ibrahim Majid, Ali Asad, Salem al Hajri, Boualem Khoukhi, Pedro Miguel, Musab Khader, Murad Naji, Karim Boudeif, Mohamed Ahmed Bakri, Abdullah Abdel Salam al Ahraq, Moaz Ali, Ahmad Sufian, Ismail Mohammed, Mahdi Ali, Abdul Aziz Hatem, Ahmad Alaa, Tamim Mohammed Al Muhaizah, Ahmed Abdul Maqsoud, Omar Bari, Ahmad al Saadi, Abdul Karim Salem al Ali, Akram Afif, Abdel Karim Hassan, Assem Madbo, Ahmed Yasser, Ahmed Moien, Khaled Mounir and Tariq Salman.
U19 camp in Turkey
The Qatari under-19 football team will hold a training camp in Turkey from August 22 to 27. During the period, the team will figure in a couple of friendly matches with Galatasaray on August 24 and Besiktas on August 26.
The Qatari team are preparing for the 2017 Asian Cup qualifying games to be held in November.
Qatar are pitted in Group C along with Iraq, Lebanon and Afghanistan. Theu will begin their campaign with a match against Lebanon on November 4.
Fahad in quarters
Qatar's Fahad al Moghni defeated Abdulrahman Adan of Somalia 3-1 in the Arab Table Tennis Cup in Muscat, Oman.
Also in men's event, Qatar's Ahmad Muthana suffered a 1-3 defeat against Egypt's Mohammad al Beyali.
In the sub-junior event, Qatar's Khalid al Yafai led the standings of Group B to secure his place in the quarter-finals.
Sheikh Jassim Cup
The Sheikh Jassim Cup one-off match will kick off the new football season 2017-18 with Al Sadd taking on Al Duhail on September 9.
Al Sadd won the Emir Cup and the Qatar Cup tournaments last season that ended in May.
Al Duhail are the Qatar Stars League (QSL) champions.
After the Sheikh Jassim Cup match, the regular season will start with teams battling for honours in the Qatar Stars League on September 15. The second part of the QSL season will kick off in January next year.
The Qatar Cup is scheduled in April, while the Emir Cup, - to be held across five weeks, will wind up the regular football season in May 2018.
QSL clubs ready
The local clubs intensified their preparations for the new season of the Qatar Stars League (QSL), which is due to get under way on September 15.
This season, 12 teams will participate following the decision to trim number from 14.
Interestingly, for the first time, the teams have been divided into three groups based on their previous season rankings.
Al Duhail, Al Sadd, Al Rayyan and Al Gharafa are in first group, the second pool has Umm Salal, Al Kharaitiyat, Al Sailiya, Al Arabi while Al Ahli, Khor, Al Markhiya and Qatar Sports Club are in third group.
Al Ahli, who defeated a Dutch club 2-0 in a friendly match during their summer training camp in the Netherlands, will start the QSL first round with a clash against Al Gharafa Club on September 15.
Al Sadd, who crushed Al Shammal SC 8-0 in a friendly match in Doha on Thursday, will play against Al Markhiya in the QSL on September 16.