Dubai: The second weekend of the Dubai leg of du Football Champions, in partnership with La Liga, witnessed a strong day of play in the UAE Schools and Streets Cups, with added excitement brought on in the UAE Girls Challenge.

Over 200 girls from Dubai’s strongest teams battled it out for a place in the knockout stages. City Football Club and IMU qualified for the Dubai knockouts. The La Liga Valencia team cruised through their group with a three-for-three winning streak.

In the Boys’ competition, La Liga Valencia Boys U14 qualified in their category, beating Future Stars.

In the U18 competition, 2016 champions Al Mawakeb Garhoud returned to stake a claim for the UAE Schools Cup.

“We’re all back and primed for another trophy this year. We feel really good about our chances,” team captain Lotfi Machou said.

“Not only that, du Football Champions has been truly a special experience for me. Through this tournament, I was scouted to the du La Liga High Performance Centre [HPC] in 2016 and since then have become their U18 Captain. I will be graduating this year, so I will miss du Football Champions, but I get to be a part of it forever through du Talents, the online scouting platform.”