More than 10,000 spectators crammed into the Dubai Mall ice rink to watch the finals of the du Football Champions tournament – including Brazil and Real Madrid legend Roberto Carlos.
Over 600 teams and more than 7,000 players from five of the UAE’s emirates began the tournament last October, with the event enjoying international scouting links with La Liga in Spain thanks to duFC director, Michel Salgado, who was also in attendance.
Carlos, a four-time La Liga winner and a three-time Champions League winner with Los Blancos and a 2002 World Cup champion with Brazil, also held a coaching clinic over the weekend.
“There are definitely some great talents in the UAE and having worked with these boys and girls I can say with confidence that there are some players here that we will see playing at international standards in the near future,” said the 43-year-old.
Salgado added: “The level of play was very high, but as I always say football is a team sport and the teams who won are the ones who work together as a unit to create opportunities and score goals. Congratulations to the winners.”
Teams battled in three different age categories in the Schools Cup while there was also a separate Streets Cup up for grabs too.
French international school Lycee Francais International Georges Pompidou have enjoyed a superb season in the Sport360 National School League competition, winning both the Under-16 and Under-14 sections.
They were beaten in all three Schools Cup finals on Saturday though. Al Yasmina School claimed a hard-earned 1-0 victory in the U-17 girls final while Philadelphia Private School claimed a shock 2-0 victory over LFI in the U-14 boys showpiece.
LFI fought back from 2-0 down at half-time against The International School of Choueifat in the U-16 boys final, levelling a 2-2 in the second half, but they again tasted defeat as Choueifat netted a late winner to claim a 3-2 triumph.
El Classico, from the Northern Emirates section, claimed victory in the Streets Cup U-16 boys final, claiming a narrow 2-1 win against Dubai’s Top Gunners.
Speaking after the finals, du CEO Osman Sultan, said: “I think the du Football Champions exceeded all expectations. Our purpose is to build the champions of tomorrow from the UAE. We are very proud of the young talents present whose journey is about to begin as they make their way to Spain.”
Hussein Murad, CEO of event organisers Inspiratus, added: “The demand for du FC’s UAE Schools and Streets Cups has been phenomenal with over 7,000 from across the UAE playing to gain exposure to the world’s best league.”