Surprise will take on Fohood Jumeirah while XCAT will battle last year’s runners-up Al Jokar in the semi-finals of the futsal competition at the third Nad Al Sheba (NAS) Sports Tournament.
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Surprise defeated a plucky Tornado 5-4, while Fohood Jumeirah knocked off the Ricardinho-led defending champions Fohood Zabeel in an entertaining quarter-final.
Later in the night, XCAT staged a remarkable recovery after being 5-1 down to pack off Al Zeer 8-6, while last year’s runners-up stayed on track to go one step better with an easy 6-1 win over the Hamdan Heritage Centre.
Fohood Jumeirah will take on Surprise, while XCAT will face Al Jokar at 01:00 in the two semi-finals tonight.
With most of the best futsal players in this tournament, all attention was on the match involving the defending champions and Fohood Jumeirah.
هل تابعت مباريات الأمس؟ أيهم كانت الأكثر إثارة وحماسا برأيكم؟ #NASsports pic.twitter.com/SIvCyquf77
— دورة ند الشبا 2015 (@NASSportsDubai) July 7, 2015
Played before a packed indoor hall at the NAS Sports Complex, the quarter-final lived up to its billing.
Two-time former futsal FIFA Player of the Year Ricardinho opened the scoring for the defending champions in the fifth minute with a snap shot. But Bader Ibrahim Saeed brought the two teams level four minutes later.
Substitute Daniel Albuquerque, who was given the task of marking Ricardinho, gave Fohood Jumeirah the lead in the 13th minute and they managed to hold on to it going in at the half-time break.
In the second half, Ricardinho made it 2-2 in the fifth minute, only to see Saeed find the net a second time, and Ronald Mateus da Silva added another one within 15 seconds to take the match out of reach for the defending champions.
However, Fohood Zabeel gained a glimmer of hope when Carlos Jimenez Ortiz pulled one back. And just when they threw everything at their opponents for an equaliser, Fernando Maciel Gonsalves made it 5-3 to oust the dethroned champions.
