Kuwait announce squad for friendly
Qatar reveals design of eighth World Cup stadium
KUWAIT CITY, Dec 16, (KUNA): The Kuwait FA announced a 24-man squad who are set face the United Arab Emirates in an away football friendly a week on Friday.
Croat coach Romeo Jozak’s men will head to the UAE this Friday, a week ahead of the anticipated match, where they will begin training before the encounter, KFA official Fahad Awadh said in a statement.
The team consists of Sulaiman Abdulghafoor, Amer Al-Matouq, Fahad Humoud, Sultan Al-Enezi, Abdullah Mawi, Abdulaziz Al-Enezi,
The design was made public in a news conference today by the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) which is responsible for delivering the infrastructure and host country planning required for 2022.
“Unveiling the design of Lusail Stadium is another step on our journey to hosting an unforgettable World Cup in 2022,” Chairman of the SC’s Technical Delivery Office Hilal Al Kuwari said.
“We are currently in the peak construction phase and making incredible progress in collaboration with our partners and stakeholders.” The building of the 80,000-capacity venue, which will be the largest stadium during the tournament, is expected to be completed by 2020.
Located 15km north of central Doha, Lusail Stadium will form the centerpiece of the new ultra-modern Lusail City.
The venue’s golden vessel takes its inspiration from an Arab architectural sense as much as it does from literal symbolism by celebrating the region’s ancient tradition of craftsmanship.
The design features ‘fanar’ lanterns and intricately detailed bowls that have been created for centuries in the region.
Khalifa International Stadium became the first tournament-ready venue in 2017, while two more stadiums will be completed early next year – Al Wakrah Stadium and Al Bayt Stadium – Al Khor City, the SC said. AL AIN, United Arab Emirates, Dec 16, (RTRS): Host side Al Ain upset African champions Esperance of Tunisia 3-0 to reach the semifinals of the Club World Cup.
Defender Mohamed Ahmad put Al Ain in front two minutes into the quarter-final, getting on to the end of a cross from Rayan Yaslem and scoring from close range.
Emirates’ Al Ain Caio (left), and Tunisia’s ES Tunis Sameh Derbali jump for the ball during the second round of the Club World Cup soccer match between Al Ain Club and ES Tunis at the Hazza Bin Zayed stadium in Al
Ain, United Arab Emirates on Dec 15. (AP)
The UAE champions went 2-0 up in the 16th minute through a Hussein Elshahat strike into the bottom right corner from inside the box and midfielder Bandar al-Ahbabi scored a close-range goal in the 60th minute for 3-0.
Al Ain will play South American champions River Plate of Argentina in Tuesday’s semifinal.
“It’s a great pleasure to play the winners of the Copa Libertadores... we will try and make it difficult for River,” said Al Ain coach Zoran Mamic.
Esperance controlled possession for most of the game but struggled to take advantage, managing just one shot on target in 18 attempts.
The Tunisian side’s coach Mouine Chaabani said he was disappointed with his team’s performance, telling reporters they had lost their focus after the first goal.
“All the players were thinking individually, not collectively,” he said.
Al Ain, who qualified as champions of the host nation and played in front of 21,333 spectators at their home Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium, piled on the pressure whenever they had the ball.
Al Ain’s Caio missed an opportunity to get on the score sheet in the 58th minute with a wayward shot from the left-hand side of the box but made amends moment later with an assist to Ahbabi who struck the third goal.
“When the team is focused on the game like today the result is coming from this discipline, from this concentration... this focus. I’m very, very proud of my team,” Mamic said.
In rare scenes for a UAE soccer match, flares were briefly lit in a section of the stadium where Esperance fans were seated shortly after the Tunisian side went 3-0 down.
Japan’s Kashima Antlers came from behind to beat Mexico’s Chivas Guadalajara 3-2 in Saturday’s earlier game, earning a place in Wednesday semifinal against European champions Real Madrid.