Qatar Stars League – Week 13 – Summaries

Al Rayyan (0)
Al Kharitiyath (1) [Yahia Kebe 79']

Al Kharitiyath continued their good form in the Qatar Stars League by beating Al Rayyan 1-0 despite playing with ten men for most of the second half, to climb up to sixth place in the table.

Burkina Faso striker Yahia Kebe scored the winner in the 79th minute with a beautifully curled free-kick.

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Al Sailiyah (1) [Barro Babou Sidiki 52']
Al Khor (2) [Mohamed Adnan 28' - Ibrahim Awal 58']

In the relegation zone battle Al Khor beat Al Sailiyah 2-1. Al Khor took a first half lead through Bahraini international Mohamed Sayed Adnan.

Ivorian midfielder Barro Babou Sidiki equalized for Al Sailiyah seven minutes into the second half , but Ibrahim Awal got the winner for the visitors six minutes later after a horrible mistake by Sailiyah’s Bahraini defender Fawzi Aaish.

Ferguson backs Qatar's World Cup bid

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, fascinated by Qatar’s state-of-the art sport facilities, has given thumbs up to its bid to host the World Cup in 2022.

Ferguson flew into Doha with his full squad on Sunday for a short training camp away from the freezing weather that has decimated sporting activity in the UK for much of the past two weeks.

"With the kind of weather back home, it’s a godsend for us,” he told reporters on the sidelines of his team’s training session at the Aspire Academy grounds yesterday. Manchester United who have their next Premier League game against Burnley on Saturday will return tomorrow.

The Scotsman, on his maiden trip to Qatar, was all praise for the Aspire’s well-maintained training facilities.

Read the full article by Suman Malla at the official Gulf times newspaper website

http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=336935&version=1&template_id=49&parent_id=29

Ferguson: "Sunshine break will boost title challenge"

Sir Alex Ferguson believes Manchester United's sunshine break in the Middle East will re-ignite their title challenge.

United have stumbled in their pursuit of leaders Chelsea, with two defeats and a draw in their last six Premier League games.

And the big freeze forced United to jet off to Qatar for a four-day training camp ahead of tomorrow's visit of Burnley to Old Trafford.

Read the full article at by David McDonnell Mirrorfootball.co.uk

http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Manchester-United-boss-Sir-Alex-Ferguson-reckons-Qatar-trip-was-the-perfect-preparation-for-second-half-of-season-article287329.html

Adriaanse signs a three-year contract

Dutch coach Co Adriaanse signed a three-year contract with the QFA that will make him the new coach of the Qatar U-23 squad.

Adriaanse who had a short spell with Al Sadd in 2007, will lead the team during the 2010 Asian Games and the London 2012 Olympic games qualifying campaign.

During the last decade, The 62-years-old coach achieved huge success in Europe at the club level with teams like AZ in Holland, Porto in Portugal, and Red Bull Salzburg in Austria.

Soria’s suspension may be overturned

The Qatar Football Federation have pleaded with the Asian Football Confederation to overturn the three-match suspension of Qatari striker Sebastian Soria who is set to miss the group stage of 2011 Asian Cup Finals if the suspension was not overturned.

Soria was suspended for three matches in 2007 after unsportsman behaviour during the group stage match against UAE in the Asian Cup Finals.

The suspension did not apply during the 2010 World Cup Qualifiers, and Qatar qualified directly to the 2011 Asian Cup Finals as hosts.

The QFA noted that the suspension should be applied in all AFC Competitions including the 2010 AFC Champions League or AFC Cup, not only in the Asian Cup Finals.

QSL Winter Transfers – Latest update

Fabio Cesar –Umm Salal to Al Rayyan
Salman Mesabah –Al Rayyan to Umm Salal
Adel Lami –Al Rayyan to Umm Salal
Moustapha Dabo (Senegal) –Sion (Switzerland) to Al Sailiyah
Abdolaye Cisse (Burkina Faso) –Al Dhafra (UAE) to AL Khor
Youssef Minqari (Morocco) –Ittifaq (Saudi Arabia) to Al Kharitiyath
Fawaz Aman –Al Wakrah to Al Sailiyah
Elbekay Bouchiba (Netherlands) – to Al Sailiyah
James Salamy (Nigeria) – Al Nil Al Hasahisa (Sudan) to AL Kharitiyath

QSL Players in African Cup of Nations

Three QSL players are taking part in the 2010 African Cup of Nations, which is currently being held in Angola.

Al Khor’s Rafiq Saifi started Algeria’s first match against Malawi which ended in a 3-0 loss, his contract was later terminated by Al Khor who opted for another African striker, Abdolaye Cisse of Burkina Faso.

Dario Khan played in Mozambique’s 2-2 draw against Benin, and it was a night to forget for the Kharitiyat defender as he scored against in his own net giving Benin a 2-0 lead, before his team successfully came back in the second half.

Burkina Faso striker Momouni Dagano started the match against Ivory Coast, but he did not pose any threat to the Ivorian goalkeeper, and the game ended in a 0-0 draw.