Paris Saint-Germain were crowned champions of the inaugural Al Kass U17 International Cup in Doha after a 5-4 penalties win over Juventus.
The Parisians crushed Kashima Antlers (Japan) 5-1 with Moussa Dembele netting a hat-trick, while Juventus defeated Ajax Amsterdam (Netherlands) 4-1.
Details coming soon …
Exciting day of football is expected in Aspire Zone today as we reach the semifinal stage of Al Kass U-17 International Cup.
Four teams will battle for the honor of playing the final of the tournament’s inaugural edition on Tuesday, and after we watched some impressing performances and top class football from those young lads in the group stage, be ready for more thrilling action today.
In the first semifinal at 04:00 pm, Paris Saint-Germain (France) will take on Kashima Antlers (Japan), and that will be followed by a classic European clash at 18.15 between Juventus (Italy) and Ajax Amsterdam (Netherlands).
Entrance is free so do not miss the chance of watching football’s future stars. In a couple of years those players will be breaking into the first teams and some of them will surely play in top competitions like FIFA World Cup and UEFA Champions League.
PSG (France) – Kashima Antlers (Japan)
16:00 Doha time – Aspire Zone – P4
Both teams have plenty of talent in their ranks, they played very good football and topped their groups in the first round, so the match is worthy of a final.
PSG started with a 9-0 hammering of Egyptian club Al Ahly with Adrian Rabiot grabbing a hat-trick and Herving Ongenda netting a brace.
In their second match, the team showed a lot of nerve as they came back from behind to draw with Spanish giants Barcelona to book the semi-final spot.
The team will get a lot of local support, as last summer Qatar Sports Investment acquired the majority of the club shares and announced its plans to make it a major European force. And with the level shown by the players in this tournament, the future of the Parisian club looks bright.
Their opponents Kashima Antlers is one of the best clubs in Asia, and some of the top Japanese players in the last two decades started their professional career with the club, striker Atsushi Yanagisawa who went on to play for cubs like Sampdoria and Messina in Italy. Other famous players who started their professional career with the club are Mitsuo Ogasawara, Atsuto Uchida and Koji Nakata.
The young Antlers started made a perfect start to the tournament with a 3-1 win over Juventus of Italy, and followed that by another 3-1 victory, this time over Al Jazirah of UAE, before securing top spot in the group with a 1-1 draw with Aspire Qatar.
They are an organized in defense and attack, have a talented goalkeeper, are very good in the air and hold an attacking power that will surely strike fear in the French defense, with talented players like Takahiro Honda, Sho Abe, Masaki Takada and Ren Otake.
Expect a cracking encounter.
Juventus (Italy) – Ajax Amsterdam (Netherlands)
16:15 Doha time – Aspire Zone – P4
A Classic encounter between two European giants, that will surely have some of the quality that we see when their senior teams meet.
The Italians were lucky to get through to this stage after they kicked off their campaign with a 3-1 against Kashima Antlers, before earning a hard-fought victory over Aspire Qatar with a late goal from their star man Federico Mattiello, who also led the team to a 3-2 win over Al Jazirah in the final group match to qualify to the semis.
Mattiello will not be the only player to watch, as talent is abundant in the ranks of the Old lady, in both defense and attack.
Ajax Amsterdam made to the semis only on goal difference from Vasco Da Gama after their match ended in a 1-1 and the Dutch side defeated the third team in the group, Aspire International 4-0, while the Brazilians were only 4-1 winners.
Keep an eye on Branco Van Den Boomen, the midfielder who played an influential role in their 4-0 win over Aspire International, in addition to the strike power of Sheraldo Becker and Quinsley Wensley who grabbed a hat-trick in that win.
The Dutch Club’s youth academy was always considered one of the best football academies in the globe, producing some of world’s best players in the past six decades like Johan Cruyff, Marco Van Basten, Patrick Kluivert, Clarence Seedorf and Denis Bergkamp. Now, with more and more top quality football academies emerging all over the world, leaving Doha with the trophy will surely be a great achievement for “Jong Ajax”.
Lekhwiya (1) Al Wakrah (2)
Said Boutahar netted a brace as Al Wakrah handed league leaders Lekhwiya their second defeat of the season.
The 29-years-old Dutch midfielder did well to control Khaled Moftah’s long ball with a delicate touch that took him past the advancing goalkeeper before slotting the ball home to give the “blue waves” a 15th minute lead.
Mohamed Razak equalized for the home team in the 68th with a powerful header after a measured cross from South Korean new signing Nam Tae-Hee.
Ten minutes from time, a deadly mistake by Lekhwiya defense gave the visitors a chance to claim the three points and they made no mistake as Boutahar finished off a beautiful throw pass from Nashaat Akram.
Lekhwiya can now lose top spot on Monday, if second placed Al Sadd defeated Al Arabi in a postponed match from week 5.
Qatar SC (0) Al Gharrafa (2)
Struggling Al Gharrafa defeated Qatar SC 2-0 to claim their first away win of the season and keep alive their hopes of getting back in the title race.
Brazilian Ze Roberto gave the visitors the lead in the 61st minute with a beautifully curled shot from inside the area after the home team’s defense failed to properly clear a corner.
Veteran defender Osman El Assas, making his first start since late November, sealed the victory for “the Leopards” in the final minute when he cut in from the left hand side before sending a low strike past the keeper.
Juventus and Al Jazirah met in the final group A fixture, with local fans watching closely and hoping for a surprise result that would send Aspire Qatar team to the semi-finals.
A draw or a win for Al Jazirah would have sent the Qatari team through, while only a win would have helped the Italian side, and with their opponents suffering two successive defeats since the tournament kicked off, it was the expected result.
Juventus made no mistake ending the first half 3-0 up, thanks to goals from Gabrielle Moncini (17’), Stefano Antezza (30’) and Federico Mattiello (44’).
Mattielo’s goal was one of the best in this tournament and was enough to get him the man of the match award for the second successive match. He broke inside the area with great skill before sending a powerful shot past the keeper.
However the second half was a different story, as Ahmed Rabia successfully converted a penalty three minutes after the break to reduce the deficit.
The local supporters kept on cheering the Emirati club till the final minutes as Mohamed Abdullah added a second for them four minutes from time. But it was not enough as the Italian hold on until the final whistle to go through.
Watch Highlights here
Ajax Amsterdam (4) Aspire International (0)
To book the last semi-final spot, Ajax Amsterdam needed a win with a margin of 4 or more goals when they faced Aspire International in the final group stage fixture.
Any other result would have meant that Vasco Da Gama will get through after they defeated Aspire International 4-1 in the opening match, and the game against Ajax Amsterdam ended in a 1-1 draw.
Impressive midfielder Branco Van Den Boomen put them in the lead after 17 minutes with a perfect header.
Minutes later he wasted a penalty and Aspire came close to an equalizer more than once but were unlucky as the first half ended with the Dutch’s slim lead.
Despite a number of brilliant saves from Aspire goalkeeper Ebenezer Dingong in the second half, Queensy Wensley netted a hat-trick to give Ajax Amsterdam the needed result. They will now face Juventus in the semi-finals on Sunday.
Watch Highlights here
Al Khor (0) Al Jaish (2)
AL Jaish continued their great 2012 form with securing their third straight Qatar Stars League victory, as Al Khor suffered their 6th defeat this season.
The visitors opened the score five minutes from the break, when Algerian Karim Ziani sent a fine cross from a free kick on the right hand side, and Abdul Rahman Eissa scored with a towering header.
Brazilian Adriano sealed the victory in injury time with a simple finish after a good through pass from Wagner.
Al Rayyan (0) Umm Salal (0)
A man-of-the-match performance from Umm Salal’s goalkeeper Saleh Al Lahyar secured a valuable point for the former AFC Champions League semifinalists in their battle against relegation.
The Falcons of Barzan stayed bottom of the table with 9 points and only one victory in 12 matches.
Meanwhile, the home team continued their frustrating results as pressure continue to mount on their Uruguayan coach Diego Aguirre.
Last week they suffered their first defeat this season, but with only three wins from 12 matches, the dream of winning their first league title since 1995 is fading away.
