Action continues in duFC competitions in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain

Sport360 staff 17:31 20/11/2018
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  • The UAE Schools and Streets Cups and UAE Girls Challenge competitions, organised by duFC, continued last weekend with the second day of group stage matches played in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain.

    This year a record number of girls’ teams participated, one third of which are government school teams.

    Charging into week two’s competition, the girls from British School Al Khubairat (BSAK) continued their winning streak, sauntering to the top of their group, while Um Al Emirate government school surprised everyone with a clean sweep of wins.

    The knockout round of the Abu Dhabi leg of the UAE Girls Challenge is sure to be a heated competition.

    “The duFC competition is a priority for us,” said Michael Neal, Thistle Girls’ Under-18 coach. “It’s hard to find games for our girls, and to have 14 other teams to compete against is really quite special.”

    In the Schools Cup Boys U16 competition, Emirates National School surprised former duFC stalwarts International Community School, with a fast pace game ending 3-1 and sending them home top of their group.

    “This is an excellent tournament with lots of participants. It’s great to see so many people out supporting the players too,” said Mrs Farida from EPS.

    Al Manhal Intl Pvt Schl vs Abu Dhabi Intl Schl (1)

    In other games, Al Manhal International Private School boys U16’s won three straight games.

    In Al Ain, meanwhile, Gracevalley Indian School squeezed past favorites Al Dhafra Private School to the top of Group A.

    In the Streets Cup Boys U14 section, FC Shadow Blazers blazed through all of their matches with a 14-point goal difference.

    In the U16 group, Undefeatable Squad lived up to its name by taking all three games and leading their group, securing a place in the knockout round. Bani Yas, down one player in their final game, also secured a place in the knockout round with a 9-0 win over Nine Street.

    The tournament’s scouting platform appeal was evident, both on the pitch and online. At the registration tent, players rushed to post videos of themselves and their friends on their du Talents profiles.

    “Now that du’s scouting platform is online with du Talents I can upload my skills videos and have more chances of being scouted,” said a young Amer Ammar from Undefeatable Squad. “I also can’t wait to start getting tips from the LaLiga coaches through it.”

    Nour Attar, from BSAK, added: “The du Talents feature is pretty cool, it’s a great way for us to build our own football community of like-minded young people.”

    A new feature, du Talents is the Middle East’s first digital scouting platform where players can build their online profile and be seen by LaLiga scouts. Challenges posted on the platform gives players the chance to win cool prizes while honing specific skills designed by LaLiga scouts to test the players. It launched this month and already has over 1,000 members.

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