TWO MATCHES IN HBZ U-16 TOURNAMENT
HEADS OF DELEGATIONS HAIL EXCELLENT ORGANIZATION AND THE “BOSS’” PROFESSIONALISM
SLOVAKIA’S ŽILINA AND SPAIN’S REAL BETIS PLAY AGAINST ARGENTINA’S DEPORTIVO AND UK’S EVERTON
The second round of the Hazza Bin Zayed U-16 International Football Tournament 2018 which is held under the patronage of H.H. 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, is scheduled to resume its activities on Tuesday 10th April 2018 with two matches. the matches will be held at Tahnoon Bin Mohammed Stadium in Qattara. In the first match, Slovakia’s Žilina will play against and Argentina’s Deportivo at 6 p.m. while Spain’s Real Betis face UK’s Everton.
HBZ U-16 Tournament is scheduled to be launched today 9th April 2018 with two matches between Al Ain and Deportivo, while Al Jazira will face Everton. The 10th edition of this tournament has 6 teams on board, including Everton, Real Betis, Žilina, Deportivo, Al Jazira and Al Ain the organizing and host club. The past versions of the tournament featured by the strong competition between all teams to clinch the title.
The tournament is an important opportunity to develop young talents. It was the starting point for a number of players at all levels. Al Ain efforts were recognized and highly appreciated by all teams who participated in the previous editions of the tournaments. As a result, HBZ U-16 Tournament earned a prestigious international reputation and attracted the best teams in the world. This definitely create the motivation to further develop its standards in the coming years as it has lot of support and more attention by the club management.
The organizing committee of the tournament held on the morning of Saturday 7th April 2018 the technical meeting of the tournament headed by Ali Khamis, Technical Director of the Al Ain Football Academy and Chairman of the Technical Committee, in the presence of Ahmed Al Shamsi, Chairman of the Referees Committee, and Obaid Al Dhahiri, Chairman of the Protocol and Public Relations Committee, Mohamed Zaher, Chairman of Secretary Committee, Khaled Mustafa, Chairman of the Media Committee and representatives of clubs and heads of delegations participating in the tournament.
During the meeting, the participants reviewed all the details related to the technical regulations of the tournament. Ali Khamis stressed that the game will last for 40 minutes instead of 45, considering the impact of the weather on the European and South American teams.
The representatives of the participating teams expressed their deep appreciation to Al Ain Club Management for their excellent organization, reception and hospitality.
Everton coach Philip Jevons expressed his deep pleasure to participate in the tournament. He stressed: “Things look more than wonderful, and we did not feel for a moment that we were have a challenge to win a title of a regular or friendly tournament. The sense that we got through the professional way of handling issues by the organizers and the perfect organizing mechanism. We were surprised by a wonderful book on the tournament full of details of everything you need to know about the history of this tournament, Al Ain City and Al Ain Club; the Club that enjoys a great history full of achievements at the local, regional and continental levels.
On his team’s confrontation against Spain’s Real Betis scheduled to be held Monday 9th April 2018, he said: “We do not have enough technical information about the performance of the opponent team, but we will monitor the performance of the rest of the competitors and the way they play and review the statistical reports after the end of the first two rounds through the DVD of the match provided by the Al Ain Media Committee delivered to our team direct after the end of each confrontation.”
Pib Alumar, Head Coach of Spain’s Real Betis, said: “I am well aware of the capabilities and quality of Al Ain players. There is a good relationship between the two clubs and they participated in joint events at the level of the junior stage. We do understand also that Hazza Bin Zayed U-16 International Football Tournament is one of the most successful and best championships. At the junior level.”
Alumar praised the professional work in preparing and designing the tournament booklet, which gives the reader from the first moment a wonderful sense of the huge work and great efforts made by the Organizing Committee to adopt the highest standards of professional work. “Personally, I was very pleased with the wonderful content that shows the history of the Club, objectives of the tournament and information required on each team participating in the tournament,” said he.
For his part, Mohamed Rashed, representative of Slovak’s Žilina, thanked Al Ain Club for hosting and organizing the tournament and stressed that it is a good opportunity for the team to interact and play against a number of Latin and European football schools, alongside Al Ain and Al Jazira teams. He pointed out: “Such tournaments will be useful in all aspects especially at the technical, tactical and administrative levels. He added: “the participation of Everton Academy is very important as it is one of the best academies in Europe, besides the participation of Al Ain and AL Jazira of UAE. Indeed, the Spanish team Real Betis is known for being one of the strongest teams. As for Argentine’s Atalaya, we know nothing about them, but I expect them to be a strong rival and the surprise of the tournament.” The representative of Žilina praised the booklet issued by the Organizing Committee of the tournament and said that it made it easy for us to get to know all the details of the tournament and the history of the hosting club and city.
Ahmed Al Musabi, The Administrative Manager of Al Jazira team, said: “It is not strange for Al Jazira to participate in this tournament and the team feels that they are at their second home. Indeed, it is an excellent opportunity for the players to benefit from playing against teams coming from Europe and Latin America and certainly it will be of great benefit to the players due to chances of playing against different schools.” He also hailed efforts exerted to produce such a stunning and informative booklet on the tournament. He said: “This is one of the best media releases that has made it easier for us to get information about the teams and the history of the tournament.”
Pero Foglia, Head Coach of Deportivo Atalaya expressed his gratitude and appreciation to Al Ain Club for the stunning organization of this reputable tournament. He stated: “From the very first moment, we felt that the gains we will attain are consistent with our ambitions. Our main goal is to gain experience in confronting different schools and learning about different customs and traditions through interacting with other cultures available in the same place. Definitely, this will be positively reflected on the players of the team and certainly enhances their knowledge and experience.”
On the relationship between them and Inter Milan, he said: “Deportivo Atalaya Academy oversees the Inter Milan academies in Argentina and certain academies of big clubs in Europe and South America.”
In his turn, Hamid Al Derei, Administrative Manager of Al Ain U-16 Team, welcomed the managers and supervisors of the teams participating in the tournament. He stated: “We are honored to have this tournament named after H.H. 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. It is a perfect chance for all players to interact with their colleagues from other participating clubs from Europe and Latin America. We wish all teams to do their best and show great and honorable performance.” Al Derei hailed the booklet of the tournament which contained abundant information on the participating teams and the history of the tournament.
