Al-Azraq held his first training session at Aspire in Doha

Kuwait’s national first football team held its first training session yesterday evening at the Aspire Academy pitches in Qatar, arriving in Doha just hours earlier in preparation for participating in the Arabian Gulf Cup (Gulf 27) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, from October 23 to November 6.

The “Blue” delegation is led by Ayman Al-Husseini, Vice President of the Federation for Technical Affairs, alongside the technical staff headed by Portuguese coach Helio Sousa, and the administrative team comprising Abdulrahman Al-Mousa (manager), Ali Mahmoud, and Yousef Al-Fadli (administrators).

Kuwait competes in Group 1 of Gulf 27, alongside host nation Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Iraq. Group 2 includes the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, and Yemen.

Sousa will focus during training sessions on enhancing player cohesion and implementing his tactical ideas, paving the way for selecting his starting lineup for the tournament. He is expected to test this lineup in a friendly match against Yemen on October 18, five days before the tournament begins.

The delegation comprises 19 players: Abdulrahman Al-Fadli and Rakan Al-Saeed (goalkeepers); Fahad Al-Hajri, Khaled Sabah, Yousef Al-Haqan, Abdulaziz Naji, Muath Al-Dhafiri, Abdulwahab Al-Awadi, Rashid Al-Dosari, Jassem Al-Mutairi, Khaled Al-Murshed, Adabi Shahab, Nasser Faleh, Mehdi Dashti, Eid Al-Rashidi, Yousef Majed, Shuaib Al-Khalidi, Mubarak Al-Finini, and Abdullah Al-Awadi.

Eight Kuwait SC players are absent from the “Blue” camp in Qatar: Khaled Al-Rashidi, Saud Al-Houshan, Mohsen Falah, Reda Hani, Ahmed Al-Dhafiri, Abdullah Al-Qarzaei, Mohammed Daham, and Yousef Nasser. Their absence is due to their commitment to their club’s away match against UAE’s Al-Ittihad Kalba on October 16, part of the first round of Group 1 in the AFC Champions League Two.