Players intensify training for the upcoming friendlies.

KUWAIT CITY, Oct 1: The Kuwait Football Association has confirmed the program for the national team’s upcoming camp. Kuwait will travel to Tashkent on Monday to face Uzbekistan in a friendly match on October 9, before moving to Dubai for a second camp starting October 10, where the team will play Morocco’s local national side on October 14, returning home the following day.

The preparations come at the request of Portuguese coach Helio Sousa, who is eager to take advantage of the international break to ready his squad for the crucial Arab Cup playoff against Mauritania on November 25 in Doha. Victory in that match would secure Kuwait a spot in the finals, where it would join Egypt, Jordan, and the UAE in the group stage.

Al-Azraq began training last Monday at the Friendship and Peace Stadium before moving sessions to Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium. The technical and medical staff have also put several players through morning fitness work at a health institute to ensure peak conditioning.

Sousa has named a 26-player squad for the camp, including Saud Al-Janahi, Khaled Al-Rashidi, Saud Al-Hoshan, Abdulrahman Ajaj, Fahad Al-Hajri, Mishari Ghanem, Khaled Sabah, Mohammed Khaled, Rashid Al-Dosari, Khaled Ibrahim, Abdulwahab Al-Awadhi, Nasser Al-Enezi, Hassan Hamdan, Khaled Al-Morshed, Mahdi Dashti, Reda Hani, Ahmed Al-Dhafiri, Athbi Shehab, Sultan Al-Enezi, Fawaz Ayedh, Bader Tareq, Talal Al-Qaisi, Youssef Nasser, Moaz Al-Oseimie, Salman Al-Awadhi, and Ahmed Al-Zanki.

Qadsia players Khaled Ibrahim, Khaled Sabah, Rashid Al-Dosari, and Athbi Shehab are set to join training today after returning from Iraq, where they featured in the opening round of Group A of the Gulf Champions League.

Khaled Al-Enezi

Al –Seyassah/Arab Times Staff