England and Manchester United-icon David Beckham was channelled on Sunday as Jimmy Alley swept Al Yasmina School Under-14s to success in the latest round of the Emirates Islamic National School League Football (NSL Football) in Abu Dhabi.
The blonde-haired Englishman came away with the Man-of-the-Match honours thanks to a stylish display which befitted his esteemed countryman in the 2-0 triumph against Our Own English High School at New York University.
He first rocketed in a thunderous drive from distance before he grabbed a second with an incredible free-kick from his own half which even dead-ball specialist Beckham would have been proud of.
He said: “It feels great to be named Man of the Match but it is not about me, it is about the team.
“It’s a good feeling to score both the goals. I haven’t scored a free-kick like that for a while, so it felt great.”
Meanwhile, a spiky and competitive end to the third running of group-stage matches saw livewire Mohamed Al Kaabi double up for ADNOC School U-16s in a 3-1 victory against Al Bateen Secondary.
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ADNOC went in at the break 2-0 ahead in a half littered by full-bloodied challenges and yellow cards. Hazza Rumaithi and Al Kaabi got the goals, the latter rounding the goalkeeper for the opener.
Humaid Al Mazroui gave hope for Al Bateen after the restart before Al Kaabi finished well soon after, his team-mate Zayd Shokair being dismissed towards the end.
“The players played very well today and they will learn from any mistakes,” said ADNOC coach Bogdan Sendroiu.
Elsewhere in the U-16s, New Indian Modern School Al Ain and Merryland International School ground out a goalless draw, Abd-ulaziz Al Abdooli struck four times as Al Yasmina School beat Rawafed Private School 9-0 and Waseem Almomani got an assist and two goals as New Cambridge HS beat Our Own English HS 4-2.
Other two fixtures in the U-14s saw Saeed Alshumais’ hat-trick prove crucial for Rawafed Private School in a nail-biting 5-4 triumph against Merryland International, and Firas Zarrouk and hat-trick hero Abdulla Alsuwaidi guiding Al Bateen Secondary School to a 7-2 win against Al Ain International.
