Aspire Academy has successfully concluded the two-day Aspire Football Festival for Preparatory Schools, with the Hamza Ibn Abdulmutalib School clinching the title after defeating Ibn Kahldun School 1-0 in a hard-fought match at Aspire Dome’s indoor pitch.
Both finalists qualified for the final match, which played out on Monday, at the expense of the Islamic Institute, Imam Shafi, Abu Ubaidah, and Yarmuk schools who all crashed out of the competition during the second stage of the competition.
Director general of Aspire Academy Ivan Bravo awarded the winning team with gold medals and handed the trophy of the Festival’s first edition to their captain. A number of Aspire Academy’s senior officials were also present including director of education and student care Badr al-Hay, director of corporate services Ali Sultan Fakhroo, Aspire Academy’s school principal Jassem al-Jaber, and manager of football administration Saeed Ali al-Marri.
Commenting on the event, al-Marri said: “With this Football Festival, the Aspire Academy achieved an important objective which was to engage schools in order to uncover national sporting talent that exists in Qatar’s young athletes, specifically football. We see schools remaining as the main source of promising players in Qatar, especially at this young age where physical capabilities start to shape up.
“We were greatly satisfied to see the excitement of students who participated in this tournament and excited by the high standard on the pitch. This tournament summed up our homegrown footballing aspiration and reflects Qatar’s passion for football.”
Badr al-Hay said: “We’d like to see the students who participated at this Festival standing shoulder to shoulder with our Aspire Academy graduates as part of Qatar’s national team during the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar in a little over five years’ time.
“The students participating during the festival definitely showed promise and it’s out hope they will be part of this historic event, and that the Aspire Football Festival was a major step that helped them achieve their dreams.”
The football programme of Aspire Academy is recognised as one of the strongest in the world in terms of talent detection and selection, as well as training, competition and the evaluation of adolescent players.
The Academy’s training philosophy is tailored to the capabilities, talents and goals of Qatar as a footballing nation and it follows a strategy that is geared towards the development of the individual player.
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