Dubai: Al Joker were crowned the new champions at the end of the Sixth Shaikh Maktoum Bin Rashid Football Championship that concluded at the Dubai Police Officers Club ground late on Friday.
The hero of the Al Joker triumph was Khalifa Ebrahim as he scored once in each half, while Mahmoud Hassan converted from the penalty spot to secure the win. Mohammad Ali and Mohammad Mallalah Hassan — later voted as the player of the tournament — were the two scorers for the RAK Hawks.
Shaikh Zayed Bin Maktoum Bin Rashid Al Maktoum was joined by Mohammad Saeed Al Merri from the Dubai Police Officers Club in handing over the trophy, medals and a prize purse of DHS 100,000 to the winners after the final.
Sponsored by Emirates NBD, Dewa, Pocari Sweat and Leader Sport, the sixth edition of the Shaikh Maktoum Football Championship was held under the patronage of Shaikh Mohammad Bin Maktoum Bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
“We are thrilled to win this trophy for the first time,” Al Joker coach Badr Yaqoub told Gulf News.
“We played without four of our main players in the semi-finals, and having them back in the team made all the difference as we dominated from the start. The idea was to defend deep into our area and then attack on the counter,” the former Al Ahli player said.
After coming close to opening the score in the seventh minute, Khalifa Ebrahim was successful in the very next minute as he moved in on the left and buried a low shot past goalkeeper Abdullah Moosa in the very next minute. But the RAK Hawks came roaring back with an equaliser from Mohammad Ali on the half-time whistle.
In the 16th minute of the second half, it was Ebrahim once again giving Al Joker the lead as he smashed his shot past an out of position Mousa, and then Hassan’s conversion from the spot gave the Hawks’ goalkeeper no chance. However, the visitors were far from finished as Mallalah turned in a beauty towards the end of the match.
“Finally, this is what football is all about. We had our chances but did not take all of them. We sorely missed our captain today as he had to sit out with an injury, but these things happen and we have to accept defeat as the other team played better,” RAK Hawks coach Adil Abdul Rahman said.
AWARDS
Player of the tournament: Mohammad Mallalah Hassan (RAK Hawks)
Top scorer: Waleed Ahmad Hassan (Dubai Police)
Best goalkeeper: Mohammad Rashid (Al Joker)
Best disciplined team: Bin Darwish
Best corporate team: Al Marouf
