Aspire Zone now the destination of choice for elite teams

By Sports Reporter/Doha

Aspire Zone is now firmly established as the focal point for community-wide sporting activities in Qatar.

Meanwhile, the state-of-the-art facility is becoming increasingly famous the world over as a first-class, year-round training destination for leading sports teams from across the globe.

As the world’s most comprehensive campus for athletes in training, visiting teams are given unbridled access to the facilities at Aspire Zone, providing the complete sporting experience in a consolidated sports city.

The venue comprises several indoor and outdoor pitches and running tracks, along with luxurious 5-star accommodation at the Torch-Doha and Grand Heritage Spa and hotel, surrounded by many acres of manicured parkland.

In recent years, Aspire Zone has attracted some of the world’s most famous football clubs and national teams, all of whom have returned home awestruck by its unmatched facilities. Training camps are centred on the multiple natural grass pitches, which also serve as the training ground for the Qatar national team and Aspire Academy.

A range of cutting-edge supporting facilities are also available, with experts from Aspetar Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine hospital on hand to deliver the very latest in sports science innovation.

Japan’s national football team is currently riding on the crest of a wave after becoming the first nation to qualify for next year’s FIFA World Cup Finals in Brazil. Their star-studded side, including the likes of Manchester United’s Shinji Kagawa and Inter Milan’s Yuto Nagatomo, has been a regular visitor to Aspire in recent years, training at Khalifa Stadium, the scene of their 2011 AFC Asian Cup triumph.

Bayern Munich were among Aspire Zone’s most prominent visitors this year, taking part in an eight-day training camp before going on to win a phenomenal 25 out of 27 games, scoring 76 goals while conceding only 11, and claim a unique treble comprising the Champions League, Bundesliga and German Cup.

“In my long career, I’ve never held such an outstanding training camp as we’ve had here,” Bayern’s coach Jupp Heynckes revealed.

“Everything is just right. We’ve trained exhaustively and at a very high level. There couldn’t have been better conditions for a winter training camp.”

Heynckes’ views have been echoed over the last few seasons by several other leading lights of the beautiful game, including Sir Alex Ferguson.

As Manchester United’s manager, he first brought the self-proclaimed ‘world’s most popular club’ to Qatar four years ago, and was equally impressed by the surroundings.

“We went to Aspire back in 2010 and the fantastic facilities, excellent weather conditions and hospitality from the Aspire management were a perfect combination,” he recalled, a winning combination that ultimately helped the team claim an unmatched 19th League Championship later that season.

 Yet despite the compliments received from some of the world’s most decorated coaches, Aspire exists to encourage the pursuit of excellence from the players themselves. And few have achieved such excellence as Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Paris Saint-Germain’s star striker who previously graced some of Europe’s most potent forward lines, including those of Ajax, Juventus, Inter Milan, Barcelona and AC Milan. However, following a PSG training camp at Aspire earlier this year, Ibrahimovic declared that its facilities exceeded anything that he had previously experienced.

“I am at a loss for words,” he said at the time. “I have never seen anything like this before, where you have everything in one place. The Aspire Zone project and these facilities have created an opportunity for the people in Qatar. I am very happy for them. The future looks good.”

Aspire Zone is ready to host athletes in an unrivalled environment of sporting excellence. Last season, Manchester United, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain each went on to become league champions after training at Aspire.

Such proven performance enhancement is the reason why many more elite sports teams will be utilizing its facilities in the future.