Matchday. Qatar - "Metalist 1925". Match №7. Summer training camp 2025
July 23 at 18:30 (17:30 local time in Austria). Austria, Seekirchen, "Sportzentrum" stadium. Friendly match #7. Summer training camp 2025.
Watch the match broadcast on the YouTube channel of "Metalist 1925":
After the match with Borussia Mönchengladbach, which was a real test of maturity and team unity, "Metalist 1925" will play against another unusual but very strong opponent - the national team of Qatar. Such matches are a rare opportunity for a club team to test themselves against a team representing an entire country.
This is already the seventh game of the "yellow-blues" at the summer training camp, and each subsequent match brings the team closer to the start of a new season in the UPL. Because this match will be the final one during the preparation. Tomorrow evening the team will leave Austria and the day after tomorrow will arrive in Kyiv. After a few days off, they will start preparing for the first round of the UPL - a match against "Obolon".
Opponent: Qatar national team - the current champion of Asia (two consecutive victories at the Asia Cup in 2019 and 2023), they also hosted the last World Cup (Qatar-2022). The team's last official matches were played at the beginning of summer in the qualification for the 2026 World Cup, first narrowly defeating Iran - 1:0, and then losing to Uzbekistan - 0:3. As a result, the team could not qualify directly for the World Cup and will compete for this right in the fall in a match against Oman. This Austrian camp for Qatar is a preparation for the autumn matches, where the team will try for the second time in history to qualify for the final stage of the World Cup, for the first time - through qualification, not as a host. After "Metalist 1925," the "maroons" will play another match - against "Udinese".
Geography: Qatar is a small but wealthy country located on a peninsula in the Persian Gulf in the Middle East. It borders only with Saudi Arabia and is surrounded by water on three sides. The capital is the city of Doha. The country's economy is based on the extraction and export of natural gas and oil: the country ranks high in the world in terms of gas reserves and is one of the largest exporters of liquefied natural gas (LNG). High revenues from energy resources allow the state to actively invest in infrastructure, sports, and education.
Head coach: 58-year-old Spanish specialist Julen Lopetegui, who has been in charge of the Qatar national team since May 1, 2025. Prior to this, Lopetegui coached clubs such as West Ham, Wolverhampton, Sevilla (winner of the 2020 Europa League), and the Spanish national team (2016-2018), achieving a record 20 matches unbeaten, and briefly coached Real Madrid. He also led various youth national teams of Spain to victories at the U-21 Euros and U-19 Euros.
As a player, he played about a hundred and a half matches at the La Liga level, having played for both Real Madrid and Barcelona, but most of the matches were played for Logrones.
Transfermarkt: estimates that the total value of Qatari players called up for the summer training camp is 23.98 million euros - almost 10 million more than the Metalist 1925 squad. All footballers represent clubs that compete in the national championship.
The most expensive "asset" is probably the most famous player in the team - Akram Afif. The 27-year-old winger has already played 117 matches for the national team and is valued at 8 million euros. He gained his football education in Spain, going through the youth systems of Sevilla and Villarreal. One of the few Qatari players with experience in European football: he played in La Liga for Huesca and in the Belgian championship for Eupen.
The second most expensive player is Almoez Ali, a Sudanese-born striker. His value is estimated at 3.5 million euros. In 115 matches for the national team, he scored 55 goals. He also has experience in European football and Eupen, where Almoez played for the youth team. At the senior level, he played in Austria and the lower leagues of Spain.
The third player whose value exceeds a million is Edmilson Junior. He is valued at 2.5 million euros. He was born in Belgium while his father, Brazilian Edmilson, was playing there. The younger Edmilson is a product of Belgian football. In 2018, he moved to the Qatari championship. Last year, he obtained citizenship and made his debut for the national team.
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