Dubai: Fohood Zabeel and Fohood Jumeirah became the next two teams to enter the knockout stages of the futsal competition at the Fourth Nad Al Sheba (NAS) Ramadan Sports Tournament late on Tuesday.
Fohood Zabeel once again relied on a late response and a hat-trick from their Portuguese import Fernando Alberto Cardinal for a 6-4 win against Desert to qualify from Group A, while Fohood Jumeirah also bagged maximum six points after two matches following their 5-3 win against early favourites Al Habtoor.
Keeping their hopes alive was Al Theyaba and Tornado-4 with their first wins of the competition in Group A and B respectively.
After losing 3-4 against former two-time champions Fohood Zabeel in their opener, Al Theyaba bounced back for their first points with a 9-4 demolition of Studio Zabeel, while Tornado blew off Al Ain Youth 16-0 after leading 9-0 at half-time.
Al Wasl and YLS-1 were the first two teams to advance to the knockout stages from Group C while Al Joker had booked their place as Group D leaders on Monday. The remaining three teams to advance to the quarter-finals will be decided after the last two days of preliminary round matches.
Fohood Zabeel assumed sole leadership of Group A, while leaving Desert and Al Theyaba to fight for the second available spot when they meet on Thursday. Fohood Zabeel once again came up with a late response before defeating a hard-working Desert team 7-4. Desert started slow, and that was enough for the two-time champions to go clear 2-0 with Alejandro Yepes and Fernando Cardinal scoring in quick succession.
But Desert fought back through goals from Ahmad Abdullah and Adil Zouthane as Fohood Zabeel went in for half-time with a slender 4-3 advantage Cardinal and Yepes adding one goal each and Zouthane scoring from the penalty spot.
In the very first minute Desert drew level 4-4 as Mohammad Ali Hassan slipped in the eqaliser. That is when the former champions came alive and stamped their class with Cardinal and Yepes both completing their hat-tricks, while former world player of the year Ricardinho completed the rout in the dying seconds.
Earlier, Al Theyaba had kept their quarter-final hopes alive with a 9-4 thrashing of Studio Zabeel in the night’s first match. Abdullah Mohammad Salem Sultan proved to be the perfect foil for the foreign players as the local lad scored a deserving hat-trick with his instinctive finishing before goal. It was Sultan making the difference for Al Theyaba as every ball that came in his path ended at the back of the opponent’s net. “My job as a striker is to score goals and that’s what I did,” he said.
“The bigger battles are yet to come and we need to be ready for the stronger teams like Al Joker, Al Habtoor and Fohood Jumeirah,” he added.
If Sultan was scorer, the provider was Divanei Alexandro Menino as time and again the Brazilian managed to find the gaps with his passes. “This is one of the strongest tournaments that I have played so far. There are five steps to be taken before we win the trophy, and right now we have just taken our second step,” Menino told Gulf News.
“It is important to see the local players raising their level like they did tonight. We hope to keep on improving so that we can achieve our goal of winning this trophy,” he added.
Meanwhile, the finalists in the UAE Nationals padel competition were also decided. Abdullah Ahli and Ahmad Hussain stunned top-seeded Majid Bushagar and Mohammad Al Janahi 6-2, 6-3, while Saeed Al Marri and Hassan Sharif Al Marzouqi got the better of Mohammad Al Mansouri and Mohammad Ahli 6-2, 6-2 in the lower end of the draw. The third place play-off and final will be played on Thursday.
RESULTS
(Futsal)
Al Theyaba x Studio Zabeel 9-4
Fohood Zabeel x Desert 7-4
Tornado-4 x Al Ain Youth 16-0
Fohood Jumeirah x Al Habtoor 5-3
(Padel)
UAE Nationals Semi-finals:
Ahmad Hussain/Abdullah Ahli bt Majid Bushagar/Mohammad Al Janahi 6-2, 6-3; Saeed Al Marri/Hassan Sharif Al Marzouqi bt Mohammad Al Mansouri/Mohammad Ahli 6-2, 6-2.
