The UAE media gathered for an eventful night of football at Dubai Sports World with Dubai Eye being crowned Neymar Jr’s Five media champions.
Teams took part in the competitive five-a-side tournament with a twist – when a goal is scored the team that conceded loses a player, so the more you concede the harder the game gets. The player wearing the lowest numbered bib must leave the field of play if their team lets one in. Games lasted ten minutes or until a team has run out of players. In a further twist, the goalmouths are small, and there are no goalkeepers so the pace of the game is intensified.
Ten media outlets battled it out in the group stages, with four teams advancing onto the semi finals – when the Neymar Jr’s Five rules came into play. Victories in the opening matches for ITP Media and Chouieri Group had them top of their respective groups, however it was Dubai Eye and MBC who advanced as group winners. Second place finishes for Gulf News and Dubai Media Incorporated also saw them through to the later stages.
The first semi-final saw Dubai Eye score first, leaving Gulf News with four players on the pitch. The single goal proved enough to see the radio broadcaster book their place in the final. In the second semi final, both MBC and Dubai Media Incorporated conceded, forcing each to remove a player. With the score levelled at 1-1 at the final whistle the tie was settled with a unique one-on-one situation. Teams elected their most skilful player to take on an opponent in a ‘next-goal-wins’ style finish. MBC scored, and advanced.
In the final tired legs showed, and the first goal proved crucial with Dubai Eye taking the lead, giving them a priceless player advantage. Despite their best efforts, MBC had just two players on the field at the end of the game, as Dubai Eye were crowned champions thanks to a 3-0 win.
“When we went to the tournament, we didn’t expect to go all the way to the semi- finals,” said Mohamed Shamsheer, Gulf News captain. “When we lost the first match in the group, we decided to enjoy playing good football in the coming matches. We won three matches in a row and qualified to the semi-finals but we lost it for only a goal when our key player was injured. It was a very well organised tournament and everybody enjoyed the atmosphere and the sporting spirit from all teams.”
UAE media tournament results
Group 1
Chouieri Group 3 – 0 Khaleej Times
Dubai Media Incorporated 1 – 1 Sport360
Dubai Eye 1 – 0 Chouieri Group
Khaleej Times 0 – 4 Dubai Media Incorporated
Sport 360 0 – 1 Dubai Eye
Chouieri Group 0 – 2 Dubai Media Incorporated
Khaleej Times 0 – 4 Sport360
Dubai Media Incorporated 0 – 1 Dubai Eye
Chouieri Group 1 – 1 Sport360
Khaleej Times 0 – 3 Dubai Eye
Group 2
ITP 4 – 1 Motivate Publishing
Gulf News 1 – 3 MBC
OMD 2 – 0 ITP
Motivate Publishing 1 – 3 Gulf News
MBC 1 – 1 OMD
ITP 0 – 3 Gulf News
Motivate Publishing 0 – 3 MBC
Gulf News 2 – 1 OMD
ITP 1 – 2 MBC
Motivate Publishing 1 – 3 OMD
Semi Final
Dubai Eye (1st) 1 – 0 Gulf News (2nd)
MBC (1st) 1 – 1 Dubai Media Incorporated (2nd)
Final
Dubai Eye 3 – 0 MBC