ORGANIZING COMMITTEE OF HZB INTERNATIONAL TOURNAMENT HONORS PARTICIPATING CLUBS TOMORROW.. SULTAN RASHED: ROBUST MATCHES ARE AN OPPORTUNITY TO AUGMENT AL AIN PLAYERS’ EXPERIENCE
The Higher Organizing Committee of Hazza Bin Zayed U-16 International Football Tournament 2018, organized by Al Ain Club under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hazza Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice-Chairman of the Executive Council, First Vice President of Al Ain Sports and Cultural Club, First Vice President of the Honorary Council & Chairman of the Board of Directors of Al Ain Sports and Cultural Club, completed all arrangements to celebrate and honor the participating clubs and sponsors of the tournament on Saturday 14th April 2018 at Al Ain Palace Museum.
Sultan Rashid Sultan Rashid, Board Member of Al Ain Club Football Company and Sports Director and Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the Tournament, said that the selection of Al Ain Palace Museum to honor the participating clubs and sponsors is consistent with the goals of the tournament. “Al Ain Palace Museum was the place where the participating clubs first honored in 2008, 2009 and 2017. Today, the scene is repeated and it is an opportunity to introduce guests to the heritage of our beloved country considering that in each edition we celebrate this occasion in the museum, the ceremony is highly appreciated and praised by foreigners who are looking to get to know more about the heritage of the UAE and improve their tourism culture about UAE,” said he. He added: “I would like to avail this opportunity to extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to the management of Al Ain Palace Museum for their highly appreciated continuous cooperation at all times and occasions with Al Ain Club by hosting various events. We look forward to keeping such great cooperation to achieve our mutual desired gals.”
Commenting on his assessment of Al Ain U-16 Football Team during their participation in the tournament, he said: “I believe that Al Ain U-16 Team has been successful in achieving the desired goals of their participation in this international tournament. Actually, it is not just about preparing and qualifying a team to clinch the title as much as it is an Ideal chance to engage and play against strong teams to gain more experiences and to interact with other foreign players while staying in the residence allocated for the European club academies to learn more about the best adopted methods of playing football.”
“Regardless of how satisfied they are with the level of performance or the results, we have to take in consideration that the best teams technically speaking have not won any match of the tournament, like UK’s Everton. However, they gained lots of benefits by playing against other foreign teams and this is acknowledged by the Club President, Bill Kenright,” added he.
He underlined: “There will be a thorough assessment and careful analysis prepared by the experts and specialists of the level of the U-16 Team based on their matches they played in the tournament. Additionally, there are certain players from young and junior teams were spotted as excellent players who will be involved in exchange programs. We are in the process of entering into MoUs and agreements to be signed with the English and Spanish clubs. They will be sent to these clubs to gain more practical experience and be talented players.” Sultan Rashid pointed out: “It is a fact that Al Ain Club has not organized this international tournament with the aim to win the title, but goals are much higher than even achieving good results in matches which is required of course. In fact, we look forward to preparing professional players who can be an added value in the future to our national team and Al Ain first football team considering that the brothers Omar and Mohammed Abdul Rahman, Bandar Al Ahbabi, Rayan Yaslam, Ahmed Berman and many other stars are graduates of the stunning HBZ U-16 International Football Tournament.”
Sultan Rashid praised the great participation in the workshop which was held on the margins of the tournament and attended by head coaches of the participating clubs and UAE clubs. He said: “Such workshops are an excellent opportunity to gain knowledge and share experience with European delegations.
