Qatar's Olympic squad off to France

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Tuesday, May 26th 2015 03:44 AM

DOHA: Qatar's Olympic squad has left for France where the Fahad Thani-coached side will play at the Toulon International Tournament. The tournament will be held from May 27 to June 7. For coach Thani, the squad is a fine balance of youth and experience as Qatar eye the West Asian Championship and the Asian Cup U23 tournament scheduled for later in the year. During a press briefing attending by media coordinator Mohammed Rashid Al Khanji, Thani said Qatar would do well in the coming weeks. "We have played many friendly and international games in the last few months," Thani said on Monday. "We have managed to get a decent bunch of players together," he added. "We will continue to monitor the progress of the players across events as be prepare for Olympic Games qualifiers," he said. Thani said the second phase of training will start from August 5 until November 20. "The most important phase for us would be between December 18 and January 31 next year," he said. "We have undertaken a bold training program devised to help us prepare well for the key events coming up," he said. "Our goal is to reach the Olympic Games in Rio. I have the confidence that we will do well," Thani said. Qatar will hold training camps from August 5 to 16 in Austria followed by another camp in Zurich from August 16 to 31. The training camps in Europe will include friendlies against local sides. Starting from September 1 to 9, Qatar will train in England. Squad: Nasser Saleh Khalfan, Ali Ahmed Qadri, Abdel Nasser, Shaheen Ghanim Al Kuwari, Hilal Mohamed, Ahmed Alaa El Din, Mohammed Aladdin, Abdul Rahman Al Karbi, Musab Al-Khader, Bader Saleh, Ali Allob, Abdul Rahman al-Harazi, Abdul Aziz Sharif, Ahmed Fathi, Majid Mahfooz, Othman Alawi, Hudhaifah Yahya, Yusuf Al-Kubaisi, Awad Ali, Ali Mohammed Bazdeman, Ahmed Fadel. Coach: Fahad Thani