Jonas Shneck scored twice as Borussia Dortmund got their U-17 Hamdan Bin Mohammed International Championship off to a winning note by defeating Al Wasl in Dubai.
The 16-year-old found the target in quick succession in the first half and that was enough for the German outfit to claim a deserved 2-0 victory watched by Argentina legend Diego Maradona and former Tottenham and West Ham striker Frederic Kanoute.
A triumph over Hatta Club on Sunday will see Dortmund book their berth in the semi-finals, while Al Wasl face a must-win game against Al Hilal to keep their qualification hopes alive.
Despite arriving on Wednesday, the Germans enjoyed showed no signs of jet-lag early possession at the Dubai Police Officers Club.
Captain Tobias Rachl and Marco Ehmann both went close and despite having most of the ball, Wasl’s defence and goalkeeper Suhali Ali stood firm.
Christian Fluthmann’s troops were finally rewarded just after the half-hour mark through Schneck. After some fine footwork from Marius von Cysewski, the midfielder found the 16-year-old and he made no mistake to beat Ali from six yards out.
1st match of Hamdan bin Mohammed International Football Championship ended with Dortmund winning 2-0 against Al Wasl pic.twitter.com/ttlRKqni0e
— مجلس دبي الرياضي (@DubaiSC) April 8, 2016
Wasl’s task got even more difficult as Dortmund doubled their lead in the 35th minute. Von Cysewski, who was named player of the match, was again the provider as Shneck’s low shot gave Ali no chance.
Wasl made two new changes in the second half with Hamad Ali and Shehab Albalooshi coming on for Saeed Alkaabi and Omar Alalnuaimi.
But the subs had little impact with Wladimir Wagner’s low-shot effort saved by Ali late on.
For Fluthmann, he had nothing but praise for his team. “I’m very pleased to get this result because it was very difficult to play in this hot weather,” he said. “Jonas and Marius (Von Cysewski) linked up well in both goals and they certainly played their part in this victory.”
