What do Paris Saint-Germain’s Adrien Rabiot, Bayern Munich’s Kingsley Coman and AC Milan’s Patrick Cutrone all have in common? Not only did they break into professional football at an early age and have taken on important roles in their teams – only a few years ago, each one of them featured in an edition of the Al Kass International Cup in Doha. And those are just a few examples of future star players that were part of this world-class Under-17 competition.
From January 21-31, the tournament returns to Qatar for the seventh consecutive year teeming with youthful talented players from 12 of the world’s best clubs ready to showcase their skill at Aspire Zone.  This year’s teams represent the world’s top talents from Real Madrid (Spain), Paris Saint-Germain (France), Benfica (Portugal), Fenerbahce (Turkey), Tottenham (England), Kashiwa Reysol (Japan), Espérance de Tunis (Tunisia), Wydad AC (Morocco), Guangzhou Evergrande (China), AC Milan (Italy) and Aspire Academy (Qatar), and Aspire Zone’s CSR-initiative Aspire Football Dreams.
In 2017, Aspire Academy’s team made it to the final for the first time in tournament history and put on a good fight against eventual winners Real Madrid.
In 2016, ‘Kenyan Messi’ Mohamed Rama Katana inspired Aspire Football Dreams to a win over Real Madrid in the final. His outstanding game was noticed by international scouts and soon after the tournament he signed a professional contract with the Portuguese top club Sporting Lisbon.
Starting Sunday, 12 teams will be placed into four groups of three sides playing each other to determine the quarter-finals places as well as the rest of the tournament ranking.
The opening match this year will feature defending champions Real Madrid against Fenerbahce. The second match of the day will see Guangzhou take on Benfica before the first day’s play rounds off with Esperance squaring up with Wydad AC.
The top two teams from each group will then face each other in a knockout round with the final match scheduled to take place on January 31. Al Kass TV, the official sponsor of the tournament, will provide live broadcast of all games, both online and on TV, with English and Arabic commentary.
Aspire Zone Foundation (AZF) CEO Mohamed Khalifa al-Suwaidi said, “With the 2022 World Cup rapidly approaching, we take immense pride in co-organising and sponsoring this tournament. In addition, Al Kass International Cup continues to contribute towards the development of football skills among our youth at the Aspire Academy. This falls within helping us in the accomplishment of our AZF vision to become the reference for sports excellence world-wide by 2020 and our mission of enhancing sports performance.”
Al Kass International Cup is organised by Al Kass Sports Channels in collaboration with Aspire Zone Foundation (Aspire) and the Qatar Football Association (QFA). 
Eagerly anticipating the upcoming tournament, Issa Abdulla al-Hitmi, chairman of the Organising Committee of Al Kass International Cup, said, “Building on its success in previous years, the 7th edition of Al Kass International Cup has established itself as a key international football event, bringing together the world’s leading youth clubs in a competition that caters to a large fan base from around the world.”
Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) secretary-general Hassan al-Thawadi said, “We are delighted to be part of the seventh edition of the Al Kass International Cup and to welcome some of the world’s most promising young players to Doha. The tournament is an important fixture in Qatar’s annual sporting calendar and allows us to highlight the country’s world-class sporting infrastructure and event organisation capabilities and showcase Qatar’s warm hospitality ahead of us hosting the historic FIFA World Cup in 2022.”
QFA general secretary Mansour al-Ansari added: “AlKass International Cup has become without doubt one of the most popular competitions among international clubs seeking to engage their young players on a professional level.”



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