The delegation of the first national football team will depart for Doha, this evening, via Dubai International Airport, in preparation for participation in the 2025 Arab Cup, scheduled there from the first to the 18th of next December. “The Whites” will play in the third group alongside the Egyptian and Jordanian national teams, in addition to the Kuwaiti national team, which recently qualified for the finals of the tournament at the expense of the Mauritanian national team, noting that according to the tournament system, the participating list will include 23 players, while a member of the national team’s administrative staff, Matar, confirmed. Al-Sahbani said that the team’s goal in participating in the tournament is to reach the final match and compete for the title, not to participate for the sake of participating, stressing that the team’s players are fully prepared to participate in this event.
Matar Al-Sahbani told Emirates Al-Youm: “Certainly, the national team’s participation in any tournament seeks to reach its final stage, and this is a desired goal even for the national team players who have their sights set on reaching the final of the tournament, but in the beginning we focus on passing the group stage and then the next stages, all the way to the final match.”
Al-Sahbani revealed that the team was fully staffed yesterday, with all the players selected on the list, including Ali Saleh and Nicholas Jimenez, who joined training after the end of their participation with Al-Wasl in the AFC Champions League 2. Also, goalkeeper Adel Al-Hosani joined, who was called up as a result of the injury of the team’s main goalkeeper, Khaled Issa.
Al-Sahbani added: “The team delegation will leave for Doha after the training that will be held today at the Dubai Police Officers Club Stadium.”
Matar Al-Sahbani indicated – in response to a question about the team’s program after it arrives in Doha – that training will continue on a daily basis in Doha, starting tomorrow, Saturday, until the date of the first match against the Jordanian team scheduled for next Wednesday, within the first round of the team’s matches in the tournament.
Al-Sahbani considered that the current group of national team players is homogeneous, as they have been with each other for about two months, and participated with the national team in the qualifying playoff for the World Cup, and also participated with the national team in its last two matches with the Iraqi national team in the Asian playoff, within the qualifying round for the World Cup.
The training session that the team will conduct today, before traveling to Doha, is its third since the start of its short gathering in Dubai, starting Wednesday (the day before yesterday).
Regarding the injury suffered by goalkeeper Khaled Issa, Al-Sahbani confirmed that the player suffered the injury with his club Al-Ain, and that he met with the team doctor, and according to examinations and medical reports, it proved that the player needs to rest for three weeks, and he will complete his treatment period with his club Al-Ain.
It is noteworthy that the Al Ain Club Football Company had announced in a statement, on the club’s official account on the “X” platform, that the first team goalkeeper, Khaled Issa, suffered a posterior muscle injury during the team’s match with Al Jazira in the eighth round of the ADNOC Professional Football League, and that the player will undergo a special rehabilitation program.
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