KFA ready for Philippine-Kuwait crunch match

Tickets at KD 5, 3, 2 to be released soon

KUWAIT CITY, July 12: “All preparations have been done. Everything is in place and we are ready to welcome the Philippine Azkals to Kuwait as they face the Kuwait National Football Team in the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers on July 23 at the Mohammad Al-Hammad (Qadsia Club) Stadium in Hawally, “ disclosed Talal Al-Mehteb, the Media Officer of the Kuwait Football Association (KFA) during a press briefing at the KFA Headquarters in Adailiya on Monday evening.

Al-Mehteb outlined the preparations being made by KFA from obtaining the final list of the line-up of players of the Philippine National Football Team, their visas, hotel accommodation to their itinerary during their stay here in Kuwait. “We already got the list of their players and we’re surprised that most of them have non-Filipino surnames and most of them don’t need a visa to Kuwait. We have already arranged their hotel and all that they may need to make their stay in Kuwait comfortable,” he explained.

Al-Mehteb also clarified that the tickets to the match are still to be printed and will be sold at prices KD 5, KD 3, and KD 2. “We will make the announcement on the availability of the tickets within this week and where the public can buy them,” he pointed out as a number of Filipinos have been going to the KFA Headquarters since last week inquiring about the tickets. He assured that they will make an official announcement on this. “As soon as the tickets are available, we will also contact the Philippine Embassy and ask them if they want to get some of the tickets and help in the distribution of tickets to the Filipinos, just like what we did during the recent match between Kuwait and Japan wherein the Embassy of Japan took some of the tickets,” he explained.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Embassy expressed its willingness to help the Kuwait Football Association to ensure the success of the football match between the two countries. “We are willing to cooperate with the Kuwait Football Association and extend all the assistance that they may need from our side. Once the tickets are ready and if they want us to help in the distribution of the tickets then we will be glad to help them out on this,” disclosed Philippine Ambassador to Kuwait Shulan Primavera to the Arab Times. He added that he has tasked embassy staff Abdulhalim Langco to coordinate closely with the KFA on this matter.

Al-Mehteb cited that the Kuwait National Team has been undergoing a rigorous training in preparation for the upcoming match with the Azkals. The team just had its training camp in Lebanon from June 27 to July 7 where it played two friendly matches against Lebanon on July 2 and Oman on July 6. He added that the team is now in Amman, Jordan, where they will take part in a friendly tournament with the national teams of Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Jordan in preparation for the match against the Philippine team. “They are expected to be back in Kuwait on July 18,” he informed.

Ranked No. 102 in the FIFA rankings and 11th in Asia, the Kuwait National Team, a 10-time Gulf Cup of Nations Champion made it to the World Cup in 1982 and achieved its highest ranking in December 1998 at No. 24.

On the other hand, the Philippine Azkals has been making waves with its impressive display of action-packed football during its recent 4-0 victory over Sri Lanka and a 5-1 aggregate win at the jam-packed Rizal Stadium in Manila to reach the second round for the first time in the Philippine football history. The team is flying to Bahrain on July 14 for a training camp and will play two friendly matches there to acclimatize to the scorching heat in the Gulf region before its match with Kuwait on July 23.

When asked about security preparation during the match, citing the game in Lebanon on July 2 where Kuwait dumped Lebanon 6-0 that ended in a brawl prompting the military to fire warning shots, Al-Mehteb assured that the Ministry of Interior will be on top of the security. Moreover, he stressed that this will be a friendly game between two friendly countries. “We love the Filipino people. We are expecting a fun game between the Philippine Azkals and the Kuwait Team. We will be there to enjoy a good game, “he reiterated.

Al Mehteb disclosed that the Kuwait National Team will be flying to Manila right after its game on July 23 for the second leg between the two teams at the Rizal Memorial Stadium on July 28.

“Kuwait is a strong team to contend but the Azkals also plays very good and very professional but we all hope that Kuwait will win this game. Good luck to the two teams,” enthused Al-Mehteb.