January was another busy month of football in Doha, with the Qatar national team winning their first ever WAFF title and the Qatar Star League making a return after a one month winter break, while Al Kass International Cup brought together the future stars of twelve well-known teams including Real Madrid, Manchester city and Paris Saint-Germain, and the tournament was won for the first time by Aspire International.
Meanwhile, Aspire Zone was once again a hub for a number of world-famous football clubs who choose the state-of-the-art facilities of the Academy to be their base for intensive training and effective preparation for the second half of the season.
French champions Paris Saint-Germain and Spanish giants Real Madrid were the first to arrive and they played out a thrilling friendly at Khalifa International Stadium that ended in a 1-0 victory for "Los Blancos".
That was followed by the arrival of four more clubs for winter training camps, World and European champions Bayern Munich (Germany), Schalke 04 (Germany), Zenit St Petersburg (Russia) and Red Bull Salzburg (Austria).
Football fans in Qatar had another opportunity of taking a close look at a number of global stars during daily training sessions and friendly games, including the likes of Bayern Munich's Manuel Neuer the best goalkeeper in the world, and his teammate Franck Ribery, the 2014 FIFA Player of the Year nominee, in addition to one of the best strikers in Europe, Brazil's Hulk of Zenit St Petersburg.
Doha-based sports journalist Anna Lidster, covered the four training camps for Russian newspaper, www.sportsdaily.ru with in-depth reports and more than 15 exclusive interviews.
Check out what the football elite said about Aspire Zone and Qatar during these interviews.
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Pep Guardiola
Bayern Munich coach
"The facilities in Doha are fantastic. We have everything that we could ever wish for. The best thing about Qatar in the winter is its weather; excellent conditions for the perfect preparations."
Roman Neustädter
Schalke 04 midfielder and German International
Schalke 04 midfielder and German International
"It’s my second time in Doha and I would like to point out that it’s much cooler this year! the football pitches at Aspire are as always fantastic. The place is ideal for Schalke’s intensive training sessions."
Benedikt Höwedes
Schalke 04 and German International
‘Even though I didn’t practice with the main team as I was injured at that moment, I still managed to get the most from the training camp in Doha. The team stayed at the Torch hotel which has excellent gym and sauna. Doha was the perfect place for me to recover from the injury and get back to the main team."
Axel Witsel
FC Zenit St Petersburg and Belgian International
"Training time at the Doha camp just flies. We had a few intensive workouts, played friendly games. I think we did a great job here. The team was a little bit surprised by the rain in Qatar. I’ve heard it’s rare. But overall, it was a great experience."
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Luciano Spalletti
Head coach of FC Zenit St Petersburg
"Training conditions in Doha are just excellent. Perhaps, this is the best that I could ever imagine. The only down thing is that we didn’t have enough umbrellas to hide from the sun. Otherwise, everything is perfect. We liked it a lot and already thinking of coming back with the team again in February."
Nicolas Lombaerts
FC Zenit St Petersburg captain and Belgian International
"Two training practices a day at Aspire fields allowed us to get back in shape after the winter break. Doha is a very convenient place for the team’s preparations. The hotel where we’ve been staying is just two minutes away from the pitches, that is the best possible quality. I have absolutely nothing to complain about."
Florian Klein
FC Red bull Salzburg defender and Austrian International
"it’s my first time in Doha. I have heard before that this place has good pitches and that we will have all the facilities needed in order to prepare for the next stage of the season, and it turned out to be true – Aspire is perfect, it has everything we need. Qatar is not that far from Austria too and the journey to Doha was not too tiring. Also, the weather is perfect, so I hope that the team will get the most of the training camp in Qatar."