A team of 8-year-old footballers have come back from Britain with a silver medal a bronze medal - and the attention of professional scouts.
The Desert Rangers Under-9s, who play at the Soccer Circus in Mirdif City Centre, went to the UK last month to compete in two football tournaments - and their star player, Giorgio Dellesite, may have taken his first steps on the road to becoming a professional footballer.
"A scout from Liverpool [Football Club] was there and he was really impressed," said the team's coach, John Adetiba.
Giorgio, now 9, a defender from the UK, also caught the attention of a Fulham scout and will have a trial over the next few weeks.
The team, who went undefeated in 18 games last season in winning the Dubai Junior League, narrowly lost the final of the Arsenal International Soccer Festival in London to the Sutton Heath team. "They played fantastically well but lost to a fluke goal in the second from last minute. We just had enough time to get it back up to their end but then the whistle blew," Mr Adetiba said.
They had topped their group of six other teams to progress to the final.
The following week, the team went to Wales to play in the Welsh International Supercup 2011 tournament, where they finished third out of 12 teams.
They were beaten 1-0 by Cardiff City, who train five times a week in their home club's football academy and were, said Mr Adetiba, the equivalent of a professional team for 8-year-olds.
"With only two training sessions a week, we played very well against them," he said.
"The boys were happy with the result. It was their first international foray and lost to a very good team," he added.
