Dubai: Al Taher will take on The Emperor in the futsal final of the 5th Nad Al Sheba (NAS) Ramadan Sports Tournament that concludes at the NAS Sports Complex, late on Friday.
In contrasting semi-finals played out on Wednesday, The Emperor staked their claim to the title with an emphatic 7-1 thrashing of The Storm, while Al Taher had to rely on extra time and the penalty shoot-out for their 8-7 (6-6 at full-time) win over Al Wasl.
“This is what we had set out to do when the tournament started. And now, eventually three of the four teams in the running for the top three places are teams backed by our sponsor, Ahmad Al Taher,” Al Taher captain Mohammad Obaid told Gulf News.
Ahmad Al Taher was pleased with the outcome especially after his team’s hard-fought penalty shoot-out win against Al Wasl. “This is heart-stopping and the shootout could have gone either way. But we hung in there and came up with such a fine victory and the right to earn a spot in the final against our second team [The Emperor]. And The Storm too can walk away with the third spot against Al Wasl in the play-off,” he added.
The first semi-final was dominated by goalscoring ability of Russian striker Eder Fermino Lima who went on to score four goals in The Emperor’s demolition of The Storm. Giving him the right backing was Brazilian Leandro Henrique Cypriano with a brace while Hamdan Al Katheeri found the goal from the spot. Alejandro Lemine Luque pulled one back for The Storm.
The second semi-final was tightly contested with Al Wasl served by a hat-trick from Taynan Da Silva, two goals from Paulo Roberto Castanhassi and one from Leonardo De Melo Vieira. Deives Moraes’ two goals along with one each from Mohammad Obaid, Ahmad Abdullah Mohammad Jashak, Caio Cesar Garcia Rego and Marcenio Ribeiro Da Silva were on target for Al Taher as they tied 6-6 after full-time and 10 minutes of extra time.
In the penalty shootout, UAE goalkeeper Jaber Mohammad Yousuf Al Ali was the hero saving two kicks from the spot off Castanhassi and Vieira as Al Taher booked their spot in Friday’s final against The Emperor.
RESULTS
Futsal semi-finals: Al Taher bt Al Wasl 8-7 (6-6 at full-time; 2-1 on penalties); The Emperoro bt The Storm 7-1.
Final on Friday at 9.45pm: Al Taher v The Emperor
