The technical director of the national basketball teams and the coach of the first team, Dr. Mounir Ben Habib, called on the football fan associations in the clubs in the country to stand behind the “White Basketball” during its two matches against the Lebanese national team, at 7:30 pm today, and Bahrain on the 25th of this month, scheduled for Shabab Al-Ahly Club Hall in Dubai, within the second window of the final stage of the Asian qualifiers for the 2025 Asian Cup.
Bin Al-Habib told “Emirates Today”: “The basketball team needs everyone’s solidarity, and the clubs’ associations that have always supported the football team in its important matches that are held on the territory of the country, to stand behind it, especially since we are facing the Lebanese national team, which has a large fan base, and then The Bahrain national team, which is usually accompanied by a large crowd coming from Manama to stand behind its country’s national team.”
He explained: “The two (White Basketball) matches in the Shabab Al-Ahly Club hall are held according to the highest standards of the Asian Confederation, whether organizational or television broadcasting, and others, as they are among the important stations qualifying for the (Asia Cup), and it is wonderful to see the Emirati audience filling the hall to stand behind the team. The same picture will be enjoyed by the Lebanese and Bahrain teams, for whom Dubai represents their second home, and they always enjoy great public support in the matches they play in the Emirates.
Bin Al-Habib described the match with the Lebanese national team as very difficult, and said: “The presence of the Emirati audience is an additional motivating factor for the (Al-Abyad) players in the face of strong Lebanon, which has always competed for continental titles, and has been present in many editions of the World Cup tournaments.”
He added: “Realism imposes itself that we are facing a team coming from a league that is the strongest in the region, and basketball is the first popular game in his country, and from here (Al-Abyad) must have the necessary public support.”
Bin Al Habib stressed that the team is ready from both a physical and technical standpoint, and said: “We achieved great benefits from the last external camp in Serbia, which closed the curtain a few days ago, and we succeeded during the three friendly tests that we won in implementing the mechanisms and plans with which we will face the Lebanese and Bahrain teams.”
It is noteworthy that the basketball team paid a heavy tax, last February, due to significant absences and injuries, which led to its narrow loss in the first window to the Bahrain and Syrian teams, respectively, especially since “Al-Abyad” is counting on the current second window, and the third next February, to enhance its chances of qualifying. Among 16 teams across the continent to the (Asia Cup), and obtaining the only classification level (A) that allows for the next four years to be in Asian Championships, and competition for qualifying cards to the World Cup.
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