The very best teenage talent in the UAE have come together under the du LaLiga High Performance Centre in a mission to achieve their potential and become professional footballers.
The starlets all have a huge chance in Marbella this month as they aim to impress La Liga scouts and earn trials at clubs while playing top-class LaLiga academies.
Sport360° are there for the first week of the tour – check out the best of Day 2 below.
Second-half goals from Moh’d Sameer and Driss Matni completed a turnaround and ensured du LaLiga’s first tour match ended in style.
The tourists were the more cohesive unit at the start of the game but Cadiz probed the backline with a number of testing balls and after 15 minutes they took the initiative.
Mahan Jahaveri was desperately unlucky in goal as, after making a tremendous save, the rebound fell kindly to the Cadiz No10.
The Under-18s emerged with a renewed focus in the second half led by inspirational captain Neto, who struck the shot that saw the defender give away a penalty for handball.
Salam may have missed but heads did not drop and a teasing Rajeh Al Qasem free-kick sparked the breakthrough.
Al Qasem found Lotfi Machou at the far post, who played it back into the danger area and Sameer made no mistake with a close-range header.
du LaLiga were well and truly on top now and with two minutes to go they got their just rewards.
In a routine straight from the training ground, Al Qasem sent a corner to the near post and Matni’s low, powerful header gave the goalkeeper no chance.
It took a true team effort for the Under-18s to clutch victory from the jaws of defeat and each player’s spirit shone through in the end.
One person in particular who had to pick himself up mid-match was Ahmad Salam, who missed a penalty with his side 1-0 down.
However, it did little to take way on a fine individual performance as much of the Under-18s’ good work was channelled through the silky attacker.
Despite a dominant first half, the Under-16s could not make the pressure count as Cadiz’s substitutes powered them to victory after the break.
Initially Cadiz could not cope with the tourists’ pressing game and barely fired a shot in anger before the break.
And one moment of outrageous skill from striker Mehdi Elkhamlichi handed du LaLiga a thoroughly deserved lead in the 10th minute.
Taking the ball in midfield, Elkhamlichi skated past two defenders and calmly curled the ball into the right-hand corner of the net.
Unfortunately, the away side could not keep up with the pace in the second half as Cadiz introduced nine substitutes to the game, and by the 48th minute it was 1-1.
An unfortunate deflected shot off Moh’d El Shabrawy found its way into the top corner 10 minutes later, and a neat finish from the Cadiz No9 15 minutes before full-time completed the defeat.
Sometimes the best performers are the ones who do not necessarily stand out and go quietly about their business on the field.
That was true for Barbod Mazloumian, who intercepted everything that moved in the centre of midfield.
What he lacks in size he makes up for in tenacity, while he is neat and tidy on the ball. The 14-year-old nearly scored a goal with a superb left-footed free-kick into the penalty area.
“I think we really deserved the win, we played very, very well. The beginning was very hard because they were pressing us. But then I tried to motivate my team and it worked – we scored two goals at the end of the match.
“Honestly, we have been working for one year and before the match I knew we would be able to win. There is no difference between us and them. We came to win, and that’s what we did.
“We had to win the first match to keep going, and the same for Sevilla we go with that mentality and motivation.”
“I am very happy with the team, it was very, very competitive today. Cadiz are very skilled but our team had very good pressure and that was the key for the match – because Cadiz lost their quality under pressure.
“I’m proud, you saw in our training that the work we did with corners, free-kicks, they put it onto the pitch. When they were working outside the HPC for one month at home, it was very important.
“They need to continue working the same with good behaviour and the same attitude – the attitude is the key. Then maybe it’s possible to beat Sevilla, but Sevilla will be more strong.”
“I think as a team we played very well in the first half, we closed well together and we pressed well together. I think we took it a bit easy in the second half.
“We can take away a lot from this performance though and improve for the next game. It’s very nice, the players are very good and the weather is nicer than Dubai! Hopefully we can get used to it and do well.
“All my teammates voted for me to be captain and I’m very happy to lead the team, work with them and be part of this.”
