Eupen coach Makélélé stress on ‘staying positive’

 Eupen coach Makélélé stress on ‘staying positive’

KAS Eupen coach Claude Makélélé has stressed the importance of ‘staying positive’ for the second half of the season for the challenges ahead.

The former Real Madrid and Chelsea midfielder assumed responsibility as coach at Aspire Academy owned KAS Eupen from Jordi Auli Condom last November. Under his supervision, the team has enjoyed a recent run of positive results but is battling hard to remain to avoid relegation.

With a squad of 24 players, including Qatari international Abdulkarim Hassan, KAS Eupen features a number of Aspire Academy graduates including Abdollah Ali Saei and Ahmed Homam Elamin. Their fellow Qatari teammates at the club Akram Afif, Abdulrasheed Ibrahim, Youssef Aymam Farahatand and Assim Madibo, are currently on international duty with Qatar’s U-23 team at the U-23 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Championships in China.

Speaking about the performance of the Qatari players at Eupen, Makélélé Said: “They’ve been doing really well. There’s still more to be done to help them grow as players and play their part in the Qatar national football team. But I think their experience with KAS Eupen will help them develop the right outlook and attitude.”

Hassan, a regular with the Qatar national team, acknowledged that there’s increasing pressure on the Qatari national team to perform well at major competitions as the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar draws near.

 “As Qatari players, we experience pressure during major tournaments because there is an expectation on us to achieve good results. Especially since we’ll soon be representing Qatar at the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar,” Hassan said.

“The pressure will always be there. All we can do is give our all inorder to achieve the best possible result we can, and hope for the best. Thankfully, organisations like Aspire Academy support our development by, for example, giving us opportunities to join and train with international clubs like K.A.S Eupen. Our Olympic football team is currently performing really well at the AFC U-23 championship and I wish them the best of luck in their match against China on Monday,” he added.

Speaking about his experience at KAS Eupen, Abdulkarim said: “It’s definitely a different set up to that which we had at Al Sadd SC. But it’ll be a good learning experience that’ll help improve my game in the future, and which in turn will benefit the national team. I like challenges, and I’m ready to fight for my dreams.”

Meanwhile Belgian goalkeeper, Hendrik Van Combrugge, who returns to Aspire Academy this year for the fifth time, said: “One of the key benefits of this winter training camp is that it gives us time to recover mentally and physically by taking some distance away from Belgium and our daily routine. The time we spend here is perfect for us as players as we benefit from sessions with the coaches where we really get to have some quality time with them. Since we arrived, we’ve had training sessions two or three times each day.”

The team has recently signed 23-year-old Japanese striker Yuta Toyokawa who transferred from Leeds United on loan.

Speaking about his new player, Makélélé praised Toyokawa’s willingness to listen and learn and said that he expects good things from the young striker. He added that playing in the Belgian Pro League will be excellent experience for him against bigger, more experienced players.

Yesterday, KAS Eupen played a friendly against Chinese Super League side, Guangzhou Evergrande, who are also holding their mid-season training camp at the Academy

The press conference was attended by Chief Advisor of International Football Affairs at Aspire Zone Foundation and KAS Eupen FC Board member Andreas Bleicher, KAS Eupen’s Director General Christoph Henkel, Director of Finance, Legal and Administration Thomas Herbert and Marketing and Merchandising Manager Andre Palm.