The Peninsula
Doha, Qatar: Aspire Academy’s student-athletes have been presented with a copy of the “Player Insight" book with Academy graduate and three-time Asian champion Almoez Ali as a special guest.
Almoez Ali is one of 19 top-class footballers who contributed to the Player Insight series of interviews that provided a deeper appreciation of what it takes to be a professional player and to understand their training methods, philosophy, and approach. Among the others who contributed were Italy international Leonardo Bonucci, Brazil’s Thiago Silva, Argentina’s Javier Mascherano and Portugal’s Pepe. The series is the work of Aspire Academy’s Football Performance and Science Department through their innovative Aspire in the World Fellows community.
Initially, the interviews were published as videos on our social media platforms, the Aspire in the World Fellows website and aired on Al Kass Sports channels, now for the first time they are available to read.
Fresh from winning his second senior AFC Asian Cup, Almoez Ali, took time to answer questions from student-athletes on different aspects of his career.
“It is always a great pleasure to be here at Aspire Academy, my second home,” he said.
“I would like to thank Aspire for inviting me today to speak to my brothers, the student-athletes, to share with them my experiences.”
“I am also grateful to be among those star players included in this Player Insight series.”
He also answered questions on how he copes with the different emotions he experiences in football, what difficulties he has faced during his career and the importance of Aspire Academy’s European Experience Project.
The Director of Aspire Academy’s Football Performance and Science department, Professor Valter Di Salvo explained the idea behind the Player Insight interviews.
“The idea was to ask important football players from around the world, to speak directly to our players (here at Aspire Academy),” he said.
“As experts, we can tell the players whatever we want, but the fact is for them (student-athletes) to listen to a top player in the world that is more inspiring. We asked these 19 top players around the world to provide their insight about training methods, nutrition, sleeping, and how they cope with stress.”