Football: The Dragon Boys are in Kuwait on acclimatisation tour to face Qatar in the third game of the second round of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers.

The Bhutanese team was in Cambodia for three days and played a friendly game with the national team of Cambodia.

In Kuwait, the team had their first training session yesterday at 6am. The temperature was about 32 °C. The training began with his routine exercise drills. Coach Norio increased the pace of training. Players were made to play against each other like in the real game.

Norio said that since there is not much time left for the game against Qatar, the training should begin early. “The weather in Qatar will be the same as it is here. Hot or cold, we need to adjust with this weather if we are to win.”

On Saturday, the team headed straight to practice after checking into hotel. It was quite a show, jogging in front of the hotel.

Karan Gurung, one of the senior players in the team, said that it will be difficult adjusting to the weather. “We haven’t played many games in this kind of weather. Definitely it will be difficult but after two day we should be able to play like we do at home.”

“Acclimatisation sessions are important. Qatar is a strong team and, on top of that, they have the home advantage,” said Karan.

The team will be practicing in Kuwait for almost a week and play a friendly match with one of the local clubs on August 29.

The team will leave for Qatar on September 1.

By Younten Tshedup , Kuwait