Courtesy: Sport 360°


Double joy as Al Wasl lift President's Cup

Wednesday, 08 June 2011

by Martyn Thomas

Al Wasl successfully defended their Futsal President’s Cup title with a convincing 5-2 defeat of Capital Police at the Al Jazira indoor hall in Abu Dhabi.

The defending champions were thankful to a brace from Mansour Jameel who added to goals from his brothers, Salem and Abdul Karim, as well as Ahmed Mahmoud.

Capital Police took the lead through Saif Zahran and equalised early in the second half through Omar Abdulla but were unable to contain their opponents as the game ran away from them.

Sarmad Al Zadjaly, CEO of the UAE Futsal committee, revealed to Sport360° that the final had been close until Al Wasl’s late triple salvo.

“Futsal is so dynamic that you cannot predict the score until the 40 minutes end,” he said. “Both teams put on a great game, great final. The referees were up to the very highest standards; both referees we had on the court were FIFA officials and they ran the game perfectly, and the players respected the game.”

The win confirms Al Wasl’s second double in as many years, after they also won the UAE Futsal league earlier this year.

The Dubai club have also qualified for the inaugural Futsal Super Cup in September, against Al Dhafra, which will kick off the new season.

Al Wasl saw off competition from 12 other sides who began the battle for the Cup on May 17 and Al Zadjaly said they have been the team to beat since the competition’s inception two years ago.

“Al Wasl have been the dominant team since we started,” he said. “This is the second season we have just finished and Al Wasl were the champions last year for the league and the President’s Cup and this year they were runners-up in the federations cup, champions in the league and once again the champions of the cup.

“So the question for next year is, who is going to beat Al Wasl?”

Al Zadjaly puts the Dubai-based club’s success down to the family ethos created as the Jameel brothers are coached for their club by their father. And the siblings’ experience in the youth ranks of Pro-League club Al Nasr also helps, he said.

“If you look at the team, the coach is the father of three of the players,” he said.

“They all scored in the final, so it is a family club in many ways.”

Al Zadjaly added: “They came from a club background and developed as football players. So, now coming to Futsal and knowing the game that they’ve been playing for such a long time and different Ramadan tournaments and stuff like that, they almost have the upper hand on other teams.

“Their strategy is a risky strategy but it works when their goalkeeper becomes a fifth player to give them a number advantage of one more player, and that’s how they dominate the games.”

With two more teams, and another cup competition - the Emirates Cup - set to be added to the UAE Futsal scene next season Al Zadjaly is confident the sport’s popularity will continue to grow.

“Awareness of the league is becoming more and more and I think within the next few years it is going to be one of the top sports in the UAE,” he said.




Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com