Sports Thursday, December 27, 2018 19 Pogba shines for Man Utd Getting ready for World Cup 2022 on Solskjaer’s home debut Manchester United beat Huddersfield Town 3-1 in Boxing Day fixture at Old Trafford

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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s in- stant impact as Manchester United interim manager con- tinued in his first home game World’s most in charge as two goals from Paul Pogba helped his team secure a 3-1 win over Hud- innovative stadiums dersfield. After a resounding 5-1 vic- tory at Cardiff, in his first game are rapidly taking since replacing Jose Mourinho at the weekend, Solskjaer saw his team make it six points in shape in Qatar five days over the Christmas period. Yasir al Jamal More significantly, the win and performance also main- tained the positive atmos- e have passed a phere generated by the arrival number of exciting of the popular Norwegian, milestones during who spent nearly 15 years with 2018, which cul- the club as player and coach minated with un- before moving to his current Wveiling the design for Lusail club Molde. Stadium – the venue that will The first Old Trafford goal host the opening and final of the Solskjaer era came after matches of the 2022 FIFA 28 minutes after a Pogba free- World Cup. kick had deflected off Philip With just under four years Billing and behind for a corner. to go until the tournament Aim is to enthrall Marcus Rashford swung kicks off, we have reached We want to enthrall fans over a cross which was met by the peak construction phase. Victor Lindelof with a goal- Seven stadiums are currently who visit Qatar for the first bound flick that Christopher under construction, with two FIFA World Cup in the Arab Schindler cleared off the line, set to be completed in the world. All our stadiums are only as far as Nemanja Mat- very near future: Al Wakrah designed to enhance the fan ic, unmarked at the far post, Stadium and Al Bayt Stadium experience and will be who steered in his first goal of – Al Khor City. equipped with the latest the season. Football fans locally and technology, sound systems United had dominated pos- across the world have some and acoustic designs that session to the point, without exciting designs to look for- make for an incredible unduly troubling Jonas Lossl ward to. Inspired by the atmosphere. in the visitors’ goal, and Solsk- traditional Bedouin tent, Al jaer’s animated reaction on the Bayt Stadium looks set to be touchline during that period an iconic Qatar 2022 venue, facilities which the commu- showed his passion for the task. while Al Wakrah Stadium nity can use on a daily basis, It was a point not lost on – inspired by the late Zaha and ensure we have fitting the United supporters who had Hadid – will reflect the city’s post-tournament usage of the given their new caretaker man- seafaring traditions. new buildings we are creating. ager a heartfelt welcome on his Another unique design With 2018 we also say return to the club where his is coming to life with the goodbye to a great year of playing career ended in 2007. development of Al Thu- learnings for our team as we Solskjaer could not con- Manchester United’s midfielder Paul Pogba celebrates scoring his goal during the English Premier League match against Huddersfield Town at mama Stadium, which was actively participated in the ceal the delight on his face as Old Trafford in Manchester on Saturday. (AFP) designed by Qatari architect 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia. he strode down the touchline Ibrahim M. Jaidah. This A delegation of 120 SC em- before kick-off, dressed in club dersfield, who had moved bot- which David de Gea kept out casion – the derby victory at venue will be shaped like the ployees, that included all of blazer and tie, waving to sup- tom in the Premier League be- Results with a magnificent, diving, Manchester City in April that traditional ‘gahfiya’ head- the project managers that are porters as he made his way to fore kick-off, wasted a glorious Fulham 1 - 1 Wolverhampton one-handed stop. ranked as one of the highlights dress and symbolise what delivering our unique stadi- the dugout. chance after just 10 minutes, Burnley 1 - 5 Everton That made the timing of of Mourinho’s time in charge. football means to young ums, worked closely with the Terence Kongolo clearing the Palace 0 - 0 Cardiff City Pogba’s first goal all the more But he would repeat the people across the region. LOC during the tournament A banner proclaiming bar from six yards after a long significant as he doubled Unit- trick in Solskjaer’s second Al Rayyan Stadium has and gained great experience in “20-Legend” throw-in by Billing. Leicester 2 - 1 Man City ed’s lead just seconds later. game in charge, exchanging also grown rapidly, with its stadium management, crowd Solskjaer’s shirt number And, when the visitors 4 - 0 Newcastle Rashford started the move passes with Jesse Lingard af- glowing façade, made from management, ticketing, secu- in his United playing days started the second half com- Man U 3 - 1 Huddersfield with a darting 63rd minute ter 77 minutes before beating patterns that characterise rity and maintenance. – also made a return to the fortably the more threaten- Tottenham 5 - 0 Bournemouth run and pass to Juan Mata Lossl with a spectacular right- different aspects of the tra- While stadium construc- stands at Old Trafford, anoth- ing of the two teams Solskjaer Brighton 1 - 1 Arsenal who reached the byline before foot finish from 25 yards. ditional Qatari houses, soon tion work continues to ad- er reminder of the hero status responded with an important pulling the ball back to Herre- Huddersfield at least to be installed. As well as vance, at the most Northern the Norwegian holds at the double substitution that saw Thursday fixture ra whose square pass allowed claimed a late consolation as Education City Stadium, tip of Qatar, the SC tree nurs- club following his match-win- Ander Herrera and Ashley Southampton v West Ham Pogba to convert an accurate substitute Steve Mounie out- that we nickname ‘diamond ery is growing thousands of ning goal in the 1999 Champi- Young brought on. finish from 16 yards. jumped Pogba to head on an in the desert’, and where the trees and the grass for the ons League final. Briefly, Huddersfield Pogba had only scored two 88th minute Pritchard free-kick, extraordinarily complex ‘big stadium precincts and pitch- But Solskjaer was not in maintained their threat and Pritchard corner allowed Lau- Premier League goals in the setting up Mathias Jorgensen lift’ was recently completed. es, using recycled water. for an easy afternoon. Hud- a brilliantly-worked Alex rent Depoitre a 15-yard shot same game on one other oc- who slotted in from close range. Innovation drives every- We want to enthrall fans thing we do across our infra- who visit Qatar for the first structure portfolio. In May FIFA World Cup in the Arab 2017, when we inaugurated world. All our stadiums are Khalifa International Stadium designed to enhance the – our first tournament venue fan experience and will be Bayern set date with Doha for winter break – we showcased cooling tech- equipped with the latest tech- nology for the benefit of fans nology, sound systems and TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK It is no surprise that over and players. While the outside acoustic designs that make DOHA the past few years, top in- temperature was 38°C, it was for an incredible atmosphere. ternational clubs have come just 22°C inside the open-air And as we all know – The German re- to Doha, especially from stadium. Everyone who at- thanks to Qatar’s compact cord champions will be going Europe, during the winter tended was amazed. tournament plans – fans who to Doha for a training camp as break to enjoy the unique cli- We also remain com- attend our World Cup will part of their winter break from mate that Qatar has to offer mitted to building stadiums have the chance to attend 4-10 January 2019. at such a time of year at As- with a sustainable legacy that more than one match a day, as The Bavarians will once pire Zone. eliminates ‘white elephants’. the longest distance between again work in excellent condi- As usual, Bayern The prime example of this venues is just 55km, a short tions at the Aspire Academy will be a guest of Doha, which thinking is Ras Abu Aboud journey that will be seamless for Sports Excellence. hosts the next edition of the Stadium. Here, we challenged thanks to the invaluable sup- The Telekom Cup in Düs- 2022 World Cup. ourselves to push the bound- port of key stakeholders such seldorf on 13 January will be The star studded squad aries of what is possible in as Ashgal and Qatar Rail. a dress rehearsal for the will include Thomas Muller, terms of stadium engineering. 2018 has been a land- Bavarians. Manuel Neuer, Mats Hum- The resulting design is a fully mark year for our project FC Bayern kick off the mels, , demountable venue, built in and we are looking forward second half of the Bundesliga Franck Ribery, Arjen Rob- part from shipping contain- to making further progress in campaign against Hoffenheim ben, Thiago Alcantara and ers, which can be dismantled 2019 and beyond. on 18 January, part of the 18th others. and used to create new facili- (The writer is Vice round of the league, which is In July 2018, Qatar Air- ties after the tournament. Chairman of the Tech- currently led by the tradition- ways became Platinum Part- Most of our stadiums will nical Delivery Office, al rival Borussia ner with Bayern Munich, with include demountable upper Supreme Committee for heading Bayern Munich with the airline’s logo appearing on tiers. These will make way for Delivery & Legacy) six points. Aerial view of the Aspire Academy for Sports Excellence in Doha. the team’s shirts. Reigning champions Australia arrive to defend Asian Cup crown

afc.com of the country’s greatest-ever enroute to the UAE. being right, us being ready for players in Tim Cahill and have “In our preparations, we those games, preparing proper- since appointed a new coach in have played against Kuwait ly, and going out and expecting Asian champions Australia, Graham Arnold. and Lebanon who are very to win every game.” touched down in the United Despite taking over the similar to the three nations Australia will kick-off their Arab Emirates (UAE) on reins after the 2018 FIFA that we have drawn in the campaign against Jordan on Wednesday and immediately World Cup Russia, Arnold is group,” added the Socceroos January 6, in Al Ain before had a training session as they no stranger to the hot seat or coach, who have been drawn travelling to to face Pal- prepare to defend their cov- the AFC Asian Cup, having in Group B alongside Jordan, estine on January 11. eted crown against Asia’s elite been at helm during Austral- Palestine and Syria. The Socceroos will then re- in the biggest-ever AFC Asian ia’s first-ever foray in the Con- “The good part of that is ignite their epic contest against Cup, which will take place from tinental showpiece at the 2007 that we are playing three teams Syria, which caught the atten- January 5 to February 1, 2019. edition. Australia players during a training session soon after their arrival in the UAE to defend their coveted crown that play a very similar style. tion of football fans around the The Socceroos have wit- Since his last stint, Arnold against Asia’s elite in the biggest-ever AFC Asian Cup to be held from January 5 to February 1, 2019. We will do our preparation and globe during the FIFA World nessed a period of transition has enjoyed successful spells our analysis as well, but it is all Cup Russia 2018 Playoff, in over the last four years after with Central Coast Mariners A-League Premiership titles tional arena following his re- early and convincing victories about us. their last Group B match on the retirement of arguably one and FC, winning three and results on the interna- turn has been impressive with against Lebanon and Kuwait “It is about our attitude January 15, in Al Ain.