With just three few days after the end of the 2011-12 season,
Qatar Stars League (QSL) outfit Al Wakra have sealed a deal with
attacking midfielder Reimond Manco of Peru.

The 21-year-old signed a four-year deal, the club announced Wednesday.

Al Arabi club Secretary General Abdullah Al Shaibani, Chief Finance
Officer Mohammed Al Shaibani, Media Coordinator Muhammad Sulaiti and
Business Manager Rauf Buaras were present during the signing ceremony
at the club premises.

"I am thrilled to have joined Al Wakra. I am excited at the prospect
of playing in the Qatar league. The Al Wakra management has shown a
lot of confidence in my ability and I hope I will succeed," Manco
said.

"We welcome Reimond to our set up. He is a big addition to our side.
He has very good credentials to join us," Al Shaibani said. "He can
also double up as a second striker," he added.

He revealed that he has had experience of playing with PSV Eindhoven.
He said that he is keen to play in Europe in future as he was just 21
years of age.

He came to prominence in the 2007 South American Under-17 Championship
in which he was named the Player of the Tournament.

Manco was instrumental in Peru's qualification for the 2007 FIFA U-17
World Cup in South Korea. His first cap for Peru was against Bolivia
on 6 February 2008.

MADRID, SPAIN: With summer temperatures hovering the 30-degree Centigrade mark, the Qatar national team underwent two separate training sessions under the watchful eyes of coach Paulo Autuori on Wednesday.

The Qatar team is on a nine-day training camp ahead of its three 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers in June.

Players were split into groups for the morning and evening sessions.

In the morning, Abdullah Afifa, Ibrahim Maged and Mohammed Kasola only took part in fitness training whereas the remaining players completed playing drills.

In the evening, Wisam Rizq, Ibrahim Al Ghanim, Lawrence Quaye, Messah Al Hamad, Khalfan Ibrahim and Talal Albaloushi hit the gym instead of the playing field.

Also Wednesday, Afifa received his Young Player of the Year award from coach Autuori before the team training session in the morning.

Afifa was adjudged the best under-21 player in the just-concluded Qatar Stars League (QSL).

Qatar's ambassador to Qatar, His Excellency Hamad bin Hamad Al Attiyahand top official Fahad Ibrahim have been in constant touch with the squad which arrived on Tuesday.

Qatar skipper Rizk said: "Things are moving according to plan. We are enjoying this camp. It is helping us recover from a long season and prepare for some serious football next month. We are well placed for serious training here."

The camp ends on May 23.

Brazilian forward Ricardo Oliveira scored all four of Al Jazira's goals as the United Arab Emirates Pro League side claimed their fifth victory in six Group A matches with a lively 4-3 win over Al Rayyan of Qatar on Wednesday.

Oliveira entered the match at the Ahmed Bin Ali Stadium as the leading scorer in the AFC Champions League with six goals after he had bagged a hat-trick in Al Jazira's 4-1 thrashing of Nasaf two weeks ago. And the Brazilian raised his tally in the competition to an impressive 10 goals after scoring twice in each half in Doha.

Al Rayyan responded with goals by Leandro Leandro Montera da Silva), Rodrigo Tabata and Ahmed Al Aaeldin in a match that had little bearing on the final outcome of the group after Iranian side Esteghlal had secured second spot behind Al Jazira with a 2-0 win at Nasaf in an earlier game.

Mohammed Faouzi scored deep into stoppage time as Al Ittihad rounded off their Group B campaign by coming from behind twice to beat Al Arabi 3-2 in Jeddah on Wednesday.

Boualem Khoukhi struck twice for the Qatari club in the first half, either side of Hosni Abdrabou's response for the home side.

But Fabrice Nguessi-Ondama netted Al Ittihad's second equaliser in the 64thminute before Faouzi secured the Saudi club's fifth win in six matches right at the end of the game.

It was the sixth consecutive loss for the Qatari side and tempers boiled over after the final whistle when Al Arabi goalkeeper Masoud Zeraei was shown a red card for taking his protests too far after he argued that he been fouled in the build-up to Nguessi-Ondama's equaliser.

Al Ittihad had already sealed top spot in the group ahead of the match but the fans at the Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Stadium were stunned into silence when Khoukhi fired the visitors ahead after nine minutes with a brilliantly-struck free-kick that flew past goalkeeper Mabrouk Zaid into the left corner of the net.

Abdrabou levelled the score on the half-hour mark when he was found unmarked on a cross from the left and took his time before unleashing a powerful right-footed shot past Zeraei.

But in stoppage time at the end of the first half, a defensive error by Redha Takar allowed the visitors to regain the lead. He failed to clear a cross from the right and Khoukhi took full advantage to fire a powerful volley past Zaid.

Al Ittihad got back on level terms in the 64th minute with a controversial goal by Nguessi-Ondama. Zeraei appeared to be fouled as he tried to clear a corner from the left. But as he went down clutching his head, the referee allowed play to go on and Saudi Khariri nodded the ball back towards Nguessi-Ondama, who half-volleyed the ball into the net.

Despite that goal, Al Arabi looked to have done enough to avoid becoming the first team since 2007 to lose all six group games in the AFC Champions League. But in the third minute of stoppage time, Faouzi received a pass on the edge of the Al Arabi box and managed to get just enough on his shot to send it past Zeraei in the far corner of the net.

Head coach of the Qatar national team has confirmed that the clubs were informed long ago of the national teams calendar issued by QFA.

Paulo Autuori, the National Team coach, said that the football calendar starting in April was only finalized after discussions with the Qatar Stars League (QSL) clubs.
 

The Brazilian’s response came after numerous protests from clubs officials complaining about missing their international players in the last round clashes of the Asian Champions League.

Autuori said QFA and QSL officials took everything into account before releasing the dates of the national camp and list of friendlies for Qatar's 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers that will be held in June this year.

He said playing more matches and against quality opposition would help Qatar prepare well for the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

Qatar are scheduled to play at least eight 2014 FIFA World Cup, Asian, Zone, qualifying matches until June next year.

The host of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Qatar have never qualified forthe game’s showpiece event held every four years. The next edition will be held in Brazil followed by the World Cup in Russia in 2018.

 

Al Rayyan coach Diego Aguirre:

"We are looking for points. It is a tough game to tackle since we are missing six of our regular players gone on international duty.

We will have new faces for this important clash. Qatar are preparing for World
Cup qualifiers and the players have gone for the camp. We cannot stop this because national team comes first. We will rely on young players.
 

We have exciting players. This year the competition in AFC Champions League is tougher than previous years. I congratulate Caio Junior that he has guided his team to the next round. For us, we want points from this match."

Visitors Al Nasr of UAE on Tuesday rallied from a goal down to beat Qatar's Lekhwiya 2-1 in their AFC Champions League clash.

Trailing by a goal after Lekhwiya's Lessena Diaby found the net in the 38th minute, Al Nasr hit back through Amara Diane (57) and Humaid Abbas (57) to win 2-1 at Al Sadd Stadium. 

Both teams have ended their Group C matches with 6 points each. Al Ahli fof Saudi and Sepahan of Iran have already advanced to the next stage.

For Lekhwiya, it was a sad end for the Doha club that won the Qatar Stars League (QSL) title for the second time in March this year. They beat Al Ahli in their AFC Champions League debut in March.

Qatar Stars League (QSL) outfit Al Khor on Tuesday beat Al Jahra
of Kuwait 1-0 to reach the quarterfinals of the Gulf Cup.

Julio Cesar struck the crucial match-winner in the 39th minute for Al Khor.

In what turned out to be a real dogfight between the two, Al Khor
defenders held firm to seal the win.

Al Khor finished sixth in the recently elapsed Qatar Stars League season

Saudi Arabia's Al Hilal secured top spot in Group D and their fifth consecutive appearance in the knockout rounds of the AFC Champions League after a 2-1 victory over Qatari side Al Gharafa on Tuesday.

Ahmed Al Fraidi scored early in the second half and Nawaf Al Abid extended the Saudi club's lead in the 65th minute before Al Hilal defender Osama Hawsawi ensured a nervous finish for the hosts when he put the ball into his own net with nine minutes left.

With their victory, Al Hilal finished a point ahead of Iranian side Piroozi at the top of Group D. They will next face the Group B runners-up - either Baniyas of the United Arab Emirates or Pakhtakor of Uzbekistan - in the Round of 16 next Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Al Gharafa finished third and went out at the group stage for the fifth time in six appearances in the competition.

The national Qatari squad arrived in the Spanish city capital of Madrid, before commencing a two-week training camp in preparation for June 3^rd World Cup qualifier against Lebanon.

"A week spent working out in good weather conditions is very important for our rhythm and team spirit," team coach Paolo Autuori told our correspondent after arrival in Madrid.

Qatar were drawn in Group A alongside Korea Republic, Iran, Uzbekistan and Lebanon in the Final Round of Asian Qualifiers for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Qatar squad: Qasim Burhan, Baba Malick, Rajab Hamzeh, Ahmed Sufyan, Mesaad Al Hamad, Hamed Ismail, Mohammed Kasola, Taher Zakaria, Khaled Saleh, Ibrahim Maged, Ibrahim Al Ghanem, Marconi, Khaled Muftah, Wisam Rizq, Younes Ali, Talal Albloushi, Magid Siddiq, Abdulla Taleb Afifa,
Hussain Ali, Abdulaziz Hatem, Lawrence Quaye, Adel Lamy, Fabioa Cesar,
Khalfan Ibrahim, Hassan Alhaydous, Mohammed Alsayed Jeddou, Maged
Mohammed, Mohammed Razak, Sebastian Soria, Jarralah Al Marri and Yusef
Ahmed.

Coach: Paulo Autouri