Madjer, Meier to star for Al Ahli

Dubai: The inaugural edition of the UAE Beach Soccer League is certain to commence on a high note with Al Ahli Club signing up some big names yesterday.

Al Ahli unveiled Madjer [Joao Victor Saraiva] and Rui Coimbra of Portugal along with Switzerland's Stephan Meier and Iranian star Hussain Ahmad for the Dubai leg of qualifiers that start this weekend at the Al Mamzar Beach Park.

All four have reportedly been signed by Al Ahli Club's chairman Abdullah Al Naboodah, well known for his personal interest in high-profile signings ever since he took over at the Al Ghusais club.

Madjer is globally known for his extraordinary agility and dribbling talent even with his imposing 6.5-ft presence. Besides, he is very capable in acrobatic finishes such as volleys, overhead kicks and bicycle kicks making him an attractive player to watch.

Qualifying competition

Madjer has been a regular in the UAE and he scored an amazing 13 goals during Portugal's march at the 2009 Fifa Beach Soccer World Cup held at the Umm Suqeim Beach. In addition, the 35-year-old Portuguese won the Golden Boot at the 2005, 2006 and 2008 World Cups for scoring the highest number of goals.

Organised by the Dubai Sports Council, the Dubai leg of the UAE Beach Soccer League has attracted six teams — namely Al Ahli, Al Wasl, Al Shabab, Al Nasr, Dubai Club and Hatta Club — for the qualifiers starting at Al Mamzar Beach on Friday.

At the end of the qualifiers, three of these teams will be promoted to the main round of the UAE Beach Soccer League that will be held at the same venue from April 13-23.

Azerbaijan in town

Ittihad Kalba, Al Orooba and Dibba Al Hisn are the three teams who have qualified from the Fujairah zone, while Ajman and Al Hamriya made as the two qualifiers from the Sharjah zone last week.

Meanwhile, Al Nasr and Al Wasl began their preparations for the Dubai leg of the qualifiers for the UAE Beach Soccer League.

Al Nasr overcame the Azerbaijan national team 5-4 in their first friendly, while the visitors squeaked past Al Wasl by a solitary goal in their second practice match here.

UAE national player Ali Karim was the star for Al Nasr with a well-timed hat-trick while Abbas Al Haj added a brace in the Dubai side's win.

Azerbaijan will conclude their training camp in Dubai with a match against Al Shabab at the Al Mamzar Beach Park today.

The Azerbaijan national team is undergoing a training camp in Dubai as part of its preparations for the European Beach Soccer Championships to be held later this year.