The Qatar Football Association (QFA) on Wednesday announced a series of training camps, special fitness sessions and a number of friendlies in the coming months to help the national junior side prepare for the AFC U-19 Cup title defence.
A little less than two years ago, under coach Felix Sanchez, Qatar won the AFC U-19 Cup title with a famous win over North Korea in Myanmar in October 2014. The win helped Qatar qualify for the 2015 FIFA U-19 World Cup held in New Zealand.
The Qatar squad, now coached by Oscar Cano, will continue their preparations starting July 8, QFA posted on its website. The first stop will be Switzerland where Qatar will hold a training camp. The Swiss training camp will end on July 19.
Soon after the training camp, Qatar will feature in a tournament to be held in Spain. From July 24 to August 4, Qatar will feature in the COTIF tournament where the boys in maroon have been grouped alongside Argentina, Mexico, Costa Rica and Morocco.
The team will return to Doha on August 5 and hit the training pitch straight away, before leaving for another training camp in Spain from August 11 to 19. Following the camp, Qatar will join other teams from the region for the GCC Gulf Cup for juniors, scheduled from August 24 to September 4.
On September 8, the Qatar squad will leave for England for a week’s training camp that will include a friendly against Liverpool on September 14.
On their return, Qatar will appear in a tournament for youth. The hosts will be joined by teams from Uruguay and South Korea and a fourth side which is yet to be named. The tournament will be held from September 18 to 28.
Soon after the event, Qatar will head to Bahrain for the AFC U-19 Cup. The Qatar juniors have already completed ‘fruitful’ training camps in Belgium, Morocco and Spain where they also featured in some friendly matches against their national junior sides.

Fahad Thani named Director of Football Development at QFA
Former national team coach Fahad Thani has been appointed as Director of Football Development at Qatar Football Association (QFA). Fahad Thani, who coached the national side for two years, will be responsible for developing youth programmes. He will mainly be focusing on the grassroots programmes that will be aimed at harnessing young talent in the country. He will also be engaging clubs and communities around the country to chart out plans for future development.
Fahad Thani has the desired experience to take Qatar football forward, said QFA in a statement on its website. Previously, Fahad Thani has worked at Aspire Academy and Al Rayyan club while dealing with football matters. A qualified coach, Thani is well respected in Qatar where he has been associated with football since long. He has also attended FIFA and AFC workshops and top coaching courses.