Kuwait steps up Doha preparations for Gulf Cup

Kuwait national team continues Gulf Cup preparations.

KUWAIT CITY: Kuwait continued its preparations in Doha as part of a training camp ahead of the 27th Gulf Cup, to be held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, from Sept. 23 to Oct. 6.

The camp, which began two days ago, will continue until Sept. 15 and includes a friendly against Qatari club Lusail on Sunday. Kuwait will then travel to Jeddah, where it will face Yemen in another friendly on Sept. 18 before opening its Gulf Cup campaign.

Head coach Hélio Sousa is working to bring the 27-man squad up to full readiness. The Doha camp currently includes 19 players, with eight Kuwait Club players remaining with their club ahead of their AFC Champions League Two clash against Al-Wahda of the UAE on Sept. 16.

The eight players are Khaled Al-Rashidi, Saud Al-Houshan, Mohsen Falah, Redha Hani, Abdullah Al-Qurzaei, Ahmed Al-Dhafiri, Mohammed Daham, and Yousef Nasser.

Kuwait was drawn in Group A alongside hosts Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Oman. The Blue team will face Saudi Arabia in the opening match on Sept. 23, Iraq on Sept. 26, and Oman on Sept. 29.

Group B consists of Bahrain, the UAE, Qatar, and Yemen.

Qadsia and Kuwait international Abdullah Al-Awadhi has joined Sulaibikhat on a one-season loan.

Al-Awadhi completed the move before departing with the Kuwait delegation for the Doha camp.

Meanwhile, Kuwait's Under-23 national team begins training in Japan today as it prepares for the 20th Asian Games, to be held in Aichi-Nagoya from Sept. 19 to Oct. 4.

Kuwait is in Group C with Uzbekistan, Vietnam, and the Philippines. The team opens against Vietnam next Tuesday, meets Uzbekistan on Sept. 18, and concludes the group stage against the Philippines on Sept. 22.

The top two teams in each group will advance to the quarterfinals.

Coach David Doniga is focused on ensuring the players are fully prepared as Kuwait aims for a strong showing at the Asian Games.

By Khaled Al-Enezi

Al-Seyassah/Arab Times Staff