By beating the Al Wasl in the Shoot-outs.. The Boss U19 wins the Cup Title after a Marathon Game
Al Ain U19 Football Team won the “Youth Cup” after beating Al Wasl 8-5 at a marathon match between them the day before yesterday at UAE Football Association’s Stadium in Al Khawaneej. The match ended in a draw 4-4, before the two teams moved on to the penalty shoot-outs, through which the Boss won 4-1. Al Wasl scored the first goal by Said Saeed in the first quarter of the match, but the “Boss” managed to respond by scoring three goals in a row by Hamza Fayed “two goals in minutes 17 and 52”, and a goal scored by Ali Eid “26”. However, Al Wasl managed to regain balance over again by scoring three goals in a row by the player Ali Saleh “61, 1 and 82”, so that the result became 4-3. During the lost time of the match, Al Ain’s forward Ali Eid managed to get his team back to the match over again by scoring a rocket goal from a free kick near the penalty area “93”, so that the result turned into 4-4 before the two teams move on to the penalty shootouts in order to name the winner of the title. Al Ain FC was handed over the title by Saeed Alteneiji, vice president of the UAE Football Association, in the presence of Hesham Al Zarouni, board member of the UAE Football Association, Sultan Rashid, board member of Al Ain Football Company, member of the national teams and technical affairs committee of the UAE Football Association, Abdullah Ali, an administrative supervisor at Al Ain FC Academy, and Ali Khmias, the technical manager of football academy.
Sultan Rashid…The Major Target
Sultan Rashid, the board member of Al Ain Football Company, and General Supervisor of the Football Academy Sector, considered the win by Al Ain “Youth” Team of the U19 Cup Title a natural result of the kind patronage and munificent support bestowed by His Highness Sheikh Hazza bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Chairman of Abu Dhabi Executive Council, the First Vice President of Al Ain FC and Honorary Board, and Chairman of the Board of Al Ain Sports & Cultural Club, upon the football academy sector, and thanks to following the strategic plans developed by His Highness, which have made Al Ain FC a wonderful, exemplary model. Moreover, Mr. Rashid highly appreciated the close follow up provided by his colleagues in the board of directors of Al Ain Football Club Company, under the chairmanship of H.E Ghanim Mubarak Al Hajeri, and the considerable attention paid to the football academy, asserting that: (“The players and the technical and administrative staff are worthy of receiving honoring, thanks to the large scale efforts they have exerted from the very beginning of the season. We cannot forget the role of the diligent soldiers who have been working at the academy to create the success elements for the team to be able to achieve its targets”. He added that the major target of the football academy sector is to create professional footballers for the sake of reinforcing both the first team of Al Ain and our national team. In addition, Al Ain U19 team has one more target to be achieved this season; namely, to compete for the title of the league, and we wish them success.
About his message to the players before the game, he said: (I believe that the players of Al Ain FC have been raised and brought up on the love for the slogan and dedication for the sake of their beloved club. This was the major contribution to achieving their target, and, most importantly, this became manifest on the green playground in their undivided concentration, showing the spirit of fighting and struggle until they came back with the title to Dar Zain.”)
Abdullah Ali… Exciting Moments
Abdullah Ali, the Administrative Supervisor of Al Ain Football Academy, congratulated the club’s management, players of U19 team and the fans of Al Ain, on the occasion of winning the Youth Cup Title, pointing out that: (“The title was attained thanks to the diligent efforts of an integrated system of roles; each individual is performing his own role efficiently, under the supervision of Sultan Rashid, the Supervisor General of the Football Academy, and my colleague Ali Khamis, the technical manager. Special congratulation is paid to the technical and administrative staff of the team. Our major target at the Academy remains clear; to elevate the largest possible number of underage teams’ players to the first football team.”)
We experienced exciting moments in the final game, where the real enjoyment and pleasure of football has been manifest, and, eventually, the title was awarded to the best team, which showed a higher level of concentration up to the most crucial moments of the game.”) he added.
Ali Khamis… The Secret Code
Ali Khamis, the technical manager of Al Ain Football Academy, said that the secret code behind the “The Boss'” win of the Youth Cup was the good start of the U19 team, which enabled it to achieve the first target this season by winning the Youth Cup, alongside the excellent players of the team, in addition to a distinguished technical and administrative staff under the leadership of Abdel Reda Barkouzi, the highly renowned head coach. All these factors are available only in a champion team. About the circumstances of the final game, which was about to be on by the rival team up to the lost time of the game, he said: (“I think that excitement and contention were the brand of the final cup match, and the positive aspect of such game was the high-aspiring persistence and determination of the players who managed to get back to the game at a very crucial time, and I think that Al Ain made a hard-fought comeback. Now, we should leave the cup title issue behind and focus our efforts on the league title.”)
Abdel Reda Barkouzi… The Pleasure of Football
Abdel Reda Barkouzi, the Head Coach of Al Ain U19 Team, expressed his pride and honor for the players of his team, and brining out, at the same time, his happiness for turning the large efforts exerted from the beginning of the season into a win of the cup title, congratulating all for the win by Al Ain youth team of the U19 Cup Title.
Responding to a question about the pressure he experienced as a head coach during the game, he said: (“Football pleasure lies in the excitement moments we experience, when we come to know the final result only when the game is over, and I think that both teams showed quite wonderful and enjoyable performance.”)
Mohammed Khalfan… The Most Prominent Motive
Al Ain U19 Team’s players expressed their great pleasure for turning their considerable efforts into a win of the cup title, pointing out that their win of the title constitutes an important motive for them to end up the season as champions of the two titles; namely the “League and Cup”. Player Mohammed Khalfan Zayed, who has been recently selected by Zoran Mamic, the Head Coach of Al Ain First Team, to join the AFC Champions League’s lineup, said that I’d like to extend my most heartfelt gratitude to my mates of the U19 team, for the considerable efforts and fighting spirit they showed in the final match against Al Wasl; thanks to which we managed to win an important title that turned our efforts into a most deserved achievement.
Khalfan extended his gratitude for the efforts of the club’s management as well as the technical and administrative staff, which have remarkably contributed to qualifying the team to win the title, whishing that (The Boss 19) keeps up the success path by winning the league title and ending up with both titles.
Journey of the Champion
Al Ain began his journey in the Youth Cup Tournament with a game against Ajman in the 16 Team Round, and won the game 3-1. In the 8 Team Round, Al Ain beaten Al Sharjah Team 5-2 in shootouts after the match ended in a draw 1-1. In the semifinal match, The Boss beaten Dubai 2-1, and the Syrian forward Hamza Fayez Mahnaya managed to sit on top of goal scorers of the team in the cup tournament with 6 goals.
The Golden Lineup
The honorary lineup which contributed to “The Boss” win of the Youth Cup Title included (“Suhail Khamis, Yehya Nader, Mohammed Hareb, Falah Waleed, Mohammed Khalfan Zayed, Ali Eid Ghumail, Salem Abdullah Salmeen, Hamza Fayez Mahnaya, Ali Mohammed Hareb, Ali Mohammed Ahmed, Saeed Jum’a Hassan, Mohammed Fadel Moussa, Saud Al Abd Al Abri, Mohammed Youssef Mohammed, Abdullah Samir Al Faresi, Khalid Mohammed Hussein, Mansour Salem Ali, Saeed Youssef Al Ameri, Shu’aib Ibrahim Al Harbi, Nasser Khalid Al Muqbali and Jum’a Saeed Jum’a”, along with the technical and administrative staff comprising Abdullah Ali, the Administrative Supervisor of the Academy, Ali Khamis the Technical Manager, Abdel Reda Barkouzi, Head Coach of the Team, Humaid Al Derai, Administrative Employee of the Team, Dr. Tawfiq Soliman, the medical supervisor of the Football Academy, Mohamed Zaher, the technical secretary of the Academy, Al Mahdi Al Younsi, Assistant Coach, Sameh Al Banna, the physical trainer of the Academy, Milod Bn Ibrahim, Goalkeepers Trainer, Alisandro Saroso, Fitness Trainer, Ramadn Shehab Al Din, Physiotherapist, and Mohammed Dhahir Kamadath, Supplies Officer.”)
