Dubai: Borussia Dortmund are looking to put up a much better show after booking their place in the semi-finals of the sixth Hamdan Bin Mohammad International U17 football championships being held at the Dubai Police Officers Club.
The Germans were joined by Al Hilal in the last four despite the Saudi Arabians’ going down 1-2 against them in the final Group A encounter on Tuesday.
In the second inconsequential match of the evening, Hatta Club fought back from a goal down to stun the more fancied Al Wasl 3-1 and leave the Panthers at the bottom of the group with no points.
The Germans had started off with a 2-0 win against Al Wasl followed by a 7-1 romp of Hatta. Al Hilal, on the other hand, started with a 9-0 hammering of Hatta followed by a 7-1 thrashing of Al Wasl.
The two spots from Group B have also been sorted out with Real Madrid and Internacional of Brazil both looking assured. The two teams were scheduled to meet late on Wednesday, with the result determining who would top the group.
“We have shown great improvement in the quality of football we have played since this tournament started last week. We have shown an improvement in all departments and this gives us the satisfaction of seeing better results in the knockout stages,” Borussia Dortmund coach Christian Fluethmann told Gulf News.
“We are now in the semis and things can only get better from here on. Our players are match-ready and hopefully we can continue this strong run here,” he added.
Held under the patronage of Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman, Dubai Sports Council (DSC), the annual event is being organised by Dubai Sports Council with the finals on April 17 this year.
Sponsored and supported by a range of sponsors, including Emirates, Audi, Dubai Sports Channel, Movenpick Hotel, Caltex and Belhasa Holding, the age-group tournament is organised to give local Dubai clubs the opportunity of playing against various styles of football clubs from across the globe.
