The Peninsula
Several teams, including Tunisia, Senegal, Iran, South Korea and Australia arrived in Doha yesterday ahead of the FIFA World Cup, which will get underway on November 20.
Tunisia – one of the four Arab teams taking part in the first-ever World Cup in the region – received a rousing welcome as a huge number of fans gathered to greet their national side on their way to the Wyndham Grand Doha West Bay Beach from the airport.
The Eagles of Carthage are expected to start their training sessions soon ahead of their opening match against Denmark on November 22 at the Education City Stadium. They are in Group D that also includes defending champions France and Australia.
Coach Carlos Queiroz’s Iran also landed in Doha as they face tough sides in Group B that comprises England, USA and Wales. They will start their campaign against Gareth Southgate’s England on November 21 at the Khalifa International Stadium. Queiroz announced the 25-man Iran squad, late on Sunday.
Also yesterday, a big number of Senegal fans assembled outside the airport to welcome the Lions of Teranga as they arrived in the Qatari capital. Many fans also greeted Aliou Cissé’s side at the Duhail Handball Sports Hall, which is the team’s base camp for the tournament.
Senegal, who are in Group A along with hosts Qatar, Netherlands and Ecuador, will start their campaign against the Dutch side on November 21 the Al Thumama Stadium.
Australia’s players take part in a training session at the Aspire Academy, yesterday. AFP
Meanwhile, Australia also arrived yesterday and kicked off their training with a session just a few hours later at the Aspire Academy, which is the team’s base camp.
Coach Graham Arnold supervised the training session, with Australian legend Tim Cahill, a Chief Sports Officer of Aspire Academy, meeting the Socceroos on the sidelines. Australia will face defending champions France in their first match on November 22 at Al Janoub Stadium, where the Socceroos will play all their group matches.
Speaking to reporters yesterday, forward Mitchell Duke said Australia had the potential to pull off upsets.
“We can beat anyone on our day... It doesn’t matter who they are. There are 11 players against 11 players and that’s the mentality I think we’ve got to have, not get star-struck.”
“We just focus on ourselves performance by performance and have performances that we don’t regret,” he added. “We give everything on the pitch and that’s all we can do,” he added.
Players of team South Korea arrive on a Qatar Airways flight at the Hamad International Airport, yesterday. AFP
South Korea also arrived yesterday, with many fans welcoming the Asian giants as they touched down to make their 11th FIFA World Cup appearance.
The Taegeuk Warriors, who are staying at the Le Meridien City Centre, face Uruguay in their opening match on November 24 at the Education City Stadium. They will also face Portugal and Ghana in Group H.
Meanwhile, Takefusa Kubo, Gaku Shibasaki, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Ao Tanaka joined the Japan squad yesterday that continued its training session for the third consecutive day at the Al Sadd Sports Club.
On Sunday night, Morocco, who are placed in Group F along with Belgium, Canada and Croatia also received a warm welcome on their arrival to Doha.