Aspire-owned Cultural Deportiva Leonesa secured a hard-fought 4-1 win over Al Sailiya SC in a friendly game played at Aspire Academy on Friday. This game was held on the sidelines of Cultural Leonesa’s winter training camp in the Academy, which ran from December 27-31.
Commenting on the result, Mowafaq Awad, one of Aspire Academy’s graduates who plays for Cultural Leonesa, said: “I’m very thrilled to be back in Doha to participate in the winter training camp at Aspire Academy, and very happy with tonight’s result. We played a great game against Al Sailiya, who also performed exceptionally well.”
As part of their visit to Doha, the Spanish delegation that comprised of 39 players, coaches and staff members, visited popular local destinations including the Sealine Beach and Villaggio
mall. Playing in the Segunda División B in the Spanish league, Aspire-owned club, Cultural Deportiva Leonesa’s remarkable performance earned them top spot throughout the first half of the season, with 46 points in 19 games, comprising of 14 wins, four draws and one loss.
Since the club was acquired by Aspire Zone Foundation in 2015, excitement about the club’s future has grown enormously amongst fans and members of the local community.
It has led to an influx of international coaching expertise and players from Aspire Academy, providing opportunities for them to develop their talents in a new footballing environment, noting that Cultural Leonesa’s line-up includes five Aspire Academy’s graduates.
This is an important part of Aspire Academy’s mission to become one of the world’s best football development programmes in the world.
Aspire Academy’s world-class pitches that Cultural Deportiva Leonesa trained on are the same pitches that attract the likes of Bayern Munich, who are scheduled to arrive next week to start their winter training camp in Aspire Academy, in addition to FC Schalke 04, Manchester United, Paris Saint-Germain, and KAS Eupen.