Sports Zone….Part of Aspire Zone

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Leaving Aspire Park to the north, I prepared to enter sports complex which stretched north to west from Aspire Zone. Quite spacious, this sports complex is dominated by a football field, either a field for practice or an official match field.

“Private Field No Access”, a pink board was placed on a side of field and was clearly visible to anyone who passes through it.

Sneaking through a side of Aspire Park Children’s Playground, I was free to stand on a side of field where Qatar national football team trained.

To the east of training ground is Sport Accelerator Building which is a pioneer in bringing together main sports businesses in Qatar under one roof. This blue and white alternating building looked dashing with The Torch Doha towering right behind it.

From here, I moved to the road to north. Parallel to the street where I left Aspire Park. A side of road directly presented a modern building titled Aspire Academy, an athlete school which was quite famous in Qatar and had been around for 16 years. Everything looked blue with wide glass walls and futuristic arches. I started entering the grounds of Aspire Academy, an athlete school

Aspire Academy is equipped with the Aspire Dome, the largest multipurpose building in Qatar. An arena capable of hosting thirteen different sports at a time. This dome can be conditioned to be used in various weathers. It also has an indoor soccer field.

The main landmark of Aspire Zone is in the southeast, namely the Khalifa International Stadium. Often called by the name National Stadium. Like their country’s magnificent airport, this football arena also bears the name of the Emir of Qatar, Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani. This is the official home of Qatar national football team with forty thousand seating capacity.

Hosted by Qatar Football Association, this stadium was the witness where Australia was overthrown by the blue samurai squad with Tadanari Lee’s only goal in the 2011 AFC Asian Cup final.

Still in the Aspire Zone, stepping a little to the west of stadium, I was right under a 300 meter high hotel. Often referred to as Aspire Tower, although its official name is The Torch Doha.

The work of an architectural consultant from France, this building is currently the tallest in Doha. This thirty-six-floor hotel has contributed to Qatar as a focal point for the 15th Asian Games.

And right southeast of The Torch Doha is Aspire Mosque which is commonly used for worship by visitors.

The mosque was the end point of my journey in Sports Zone. How is it, Aspire Zone is cool, isn’t it?

Let’s went to Villaggio Mall…. It was really close, walk a little more.