Kuwait to face Milton Keynes tomorrow
The Kuwait national football team will kick off its pre-season friendly matches at its training camp in the British capital, London, with a clash against Milton Keynes Dons (League One), which is owned by Kuwaiti investors, tomorrow evening on Friday.
The “White” team’s management had previously announced the schedule for its preparatory matches. Kuwait will face Portsmouth, who compete in the Championship, in a strong test on August 5, before meeting Barnet from League One on August 9.
Kuwait is preparing to defend its title as league champions, in addition to its anticipated participation in the AFC Champions League Two. The team holds the record for the most titles in the competition under its former name, the AFC Cup, sharing this distinction with Iraq’s Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya (three titles each).
Meanwhile, in Turkey, Al-Qadsiah coach Mohamed Ibrahim conducted an initial assessment of the squad’s young players following the first friendly match of their preparatory camp, which is currently being held in the city of Ilica.
Ibrahim needs to reduce the current number of players to reach the maximum allowed limit for registration on the official roster for the new season (28 players, including five foreign professionals).
Al-Qadsiah drew 1-1 with Saudi First Division side Al-Zulfi on Wednesday evening, at the start of their friendly matches in the camp, after Ibrahim fielded most of the young players throughout both halves.
Both goals came in the second half. Al-Zulfi took the lead through Albanian striker Divo Prigo, before Al-Qadsiah’s “Yellow” side equalized through their star player Bader Al-Mutawa from a penalty kick.
Ibrahim made several substitutions in the second half, bringing on goalkeeper Saud Al-Qana’i, Yousif Al-Haqan, Muath Al-Dhafiri, Bader Jamal, Jassem Al-Mutairi, Khaled Al-Kharqaawi, Bader Al-Mutawa, Magdad Safar, and the new arrivals, Omani Abdulrahman Al-Mashfari and Moroccan Hamza Khaba.
On another note, Al-Qadsiah Club Board of Directors Chairman, Sheikh Meshal Talal Al-Fahad, successfully finalized the registration of player Abdulwahab Al-Shalal. This followed a final settlement with Al-Jahra Club, which completed all necessary procedures to officially register the player with the team.
The Al-Qadsiah Board of Directors expressed its sincere gratitude and appreciation to Al-Jahra Club Board Chairman, Yousef Karim, for his cooperation, understanding, and diligence, which contributed to finalizing the agreement and completing the registration procedures.
The delayed issuance of an entry visa to Turkish territory had previously hindered the arrival of Marquinhos, who was expected to join Al-Akhdar’s preparations for the new season. The team is set to begin early with an anticipated match against Indian hosts East Bengal in Kolkata on August 12, as part of the playoff round for the AFC Champions League Two group stage.
In the Turkish city of Izmit, Kazma SC drew 2-2 with Qatari side Al-Waab on Thursday, in their first friendly match of the training camp.
