Two of the eight places in the national semi-finals have been secured with the conclusion of the Northern Emirates leg of the annual duFC Streets Cup in Sharjah.
El Classico and First Kick
Defending champions El Classico and First Kick Team impressed watching scouts from Spain’s Primera Liga to advance to the next round of qualifying, which will take place at The Sevens ground in Dubai on March 11, 2017.
How they advanced
El Classico saw off Players FC 3-1 in their opener before defeating Dream Team 1-0 to advance to a decider against First Kick Academy, where a 2-0 victory saw them secure a place in the semi-finals. First Kick thrashed The Underdogs 15-0 before edging Just Do It 4-3 and Team Adnan 2-0. Team Adnan enter a play-off against a runner-up from Abu Dhabi to determine who will take one of the five remaining places in the semi-finals.
The players
First Kick team’s Sayed Hussein Mohamed, 15, topped the goalscoring charts, with nine goals in the 15-0 rout of The Underdogs alone. Nassim Hessas from Just Do It team was voted Most Valuable Player.
What the scouts said
“Today during the matches we saw some very promising players, said Raphael Gonzalez, a scout from La Liga, widely regarded as one of the most exceptional producers of young talent anywhere in world football. “The young men from the UAE Streets Cup have the skills that we are looking for and we are certain that the final selection of talents this year will include some of this region’s talents.”
What next?
The winners from the Northern Emirates will face the winners from the Abu Dhabi and Dubai legs at the national semi-finals on March 11 in Dubai. The overall winners of the tournament will get the chance to travel to Spain on an all-expenses paid trip to train with top coaches from La Liga as well as watch a top-flight match.
* Agency
