Abu Dhabi Country Club (ADCC) were made to work for their 2-1 win over Abu Dhabi Wolfhounds 2 that saw them retain the Ladies' Football International title yesterday.
Dealila Zarouki opened the scoring before Wafa Nacha doubled the lead at GEMS American Academy in Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi Wolfhounds 2 pulled one back through Louise Irvine.
ADCC continued to pile on pressure to restore their two-goal cushion but held on for the narrow win.
Fama Al Fouk, ADCC coach, said: “The opponents were really tough. We knew before the game it would be difficult because we beat them 3-1 in the group stage. And plus playing in the hot weather didn’t help us.”
Abu Dhabi Wolfhounds coach Stephen Daly added: “It was a very tough encounter and much closer than the game in the group stage. However, I can say I’m very happy with our overall performance today. There are some things we need to work on but that will take time; it was a great effort from the players.”
It was only the second tournament they have played in and Daly hopes the players will have learned from their experience.
He said: “This will be a learning curve for the players and they can apply what they’ve learnt in future competitions.”
Yas Kicks, Abu Dhabi Thistle, Abu Dhabi Youth FC, UAE U-16s (two teams), Abu Dhabi Wolfhounds 1, as well as the two finalists, took part in the seven-a-side competition, organised by E-Sports.
E-Sports sports development manager Kaye Smith was pleased with the turnout and hopes more sides will take part in the third edition in December.
She said: “It was great to see the turnout today and E-Sports will continue to facilitate these tournaments to keep promoting women’s football.
“And now we want to encourage more teams across the Middle East to take part in the future. We’ve had interest from Iraq, Kuwait, Afghanistan and we hope those teams can compete in our next competition.”