Dubai: Unbeaten Al Ahli will continue their quest for the 2013 UAE Beach Soccer League crown this weekend, but they will be without the services of their Portuguese star Nuno Miguel for the match against Ajman at Al Mamzar Beach Park.
Miguel, who will serve a one-match suspension after collecting two yellow cards at the end of last year, has been in good form for Al Ahli — the only team with an unbeaten record after three rounds of the competition.
In this weekend’s matches, Al Nasr will play Ittihad Kalba and Fujairah will face Al Wasl on Friday, while on Saturday Ajman will take on Al Ahli and Dibba Al Hisn face Al Shabab.
The league had taken a break of more than a month-and-a-half to enable the UAE national team to participate in the Asian qualifiers for the 2013 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in Tahiti, which were held in Doha last month.
There, the UAE beat Australia 3-2 in the third-place play-off to seal their place in this year’s World Cup.
With the players now rested, the Dubai Sports Council — the organisers of the UAE league — has decided to continue with the tournament.
The UAE beach soccer season opened in October with the Super Cup, followed by the President’s Cup. Al Nasr beat Al Ahli in the President’s Cup final in October, only to see Portuguese star Madjer score a hat-trick to inspire Al Ahli to a revenge 5-1 victory to defend their Super Cup crown in November.
The eight teams who have confirmed for the 2013 edition of the beach soccer league have been divided into two groups, with Group A consisting of Al Ahli, Ajman, Al Shabab and Dibba Al Hisn, while Group B is made up of Al Nasr, Ittihad Kalba, Al Wasl and Fujairah.
After three rounds, Al Ahli are top of the standings in Group A with a maximum of nine points, followed by Ajman (six points) and Al Shabab (three).
Al Nasr, who have now secured the services of Iranian striker Ahmad Zadeh, and Al Wasl are tied at the top of the standings in Group B with six points each, followed by Ittihad Kalba and Fujairah with three each.
