The Uncle Saeed team, led by Sheikh Saeed himself, displayed great character in a hard-fought 2-1 win against challengers M5 in a Davis Cup-style competition.
The two teams were tied 1-1 after the first two matches. Sandy Farquharson and Matea Jose Juan gave Uncle Saeed the lead with a 6-3, 6-1 win against Juan Tello and Xavier Masson. But Guillermo Villafane and Juan Tello brought the two teams on level terms with a 6-4, 6-3 result against Javier Lopez Garcia and German Zunica.
In the deciding third match, Matea Jose Juan combined with Javier Lopez Garcia to secure a 6-3, 6-1 win over Juan Tello and Benjamin Cassaigne to hand Uncle Saeed’s team their second team title in two years.
The futsal competition continued towards its conclusion with YLS-1 scheduled to meet Al Habtoor, while Fohood Jumeirah will take on Al Joker in the semi-finals.
In the quarter-finals, YLS-1 defeated RBH 6-3 and Al Habtoor sprung a huge surprise with a 3-2 win over Ricardinho-led Fohood Zabeel team in the first two quarter-finals.
In the last two matches, Fohood Jumeirah powered their way to a 6-3 win over Al Theyaba, while Al Joker overcame a late charge from Al Wasl to settle for a 5-4 win in extra-time over the debutants.
The pick of the quarter-finals was the last one involving Al Joker and Al Wasl. Al Joker led 2-0 at half-time with both goals coming from Marcenio Ribeiro Da Silva in the fifth and 19th minutes.
Abdul Raouf Al Marzouqi prodded home a pass from Omar Al Saleh in the third minute of the second half. But Al Wasl came roaring back with three goals in three minutes midway through the half – a brace from Javier Adolfo Salas and one from Tariq Aman – to draw level.
Al Joker held their nerves and once again went clear in the 13th minute with Edelson Robson Dos Santos (Robinho) finding the back of the net. However, Al Wasl responded in superb style with Tariq Aman flinging himself to a Salas cross for the equalizer and push the match into five minutes of extra time.
Al Joker adapted better in the extra time as Marcenio completed his hat-trick in the very first minute and then fell back to defending their narrow lead till the end.
The shocking result of the night was the loss of the mighty Fohood Zabeel for the second time in two years at the quarter-final stages. It has been a rousing debut for Al Habtoor as they stuck to their game-plan of defending deep into their own territory and then catching their opponents on the quick break.
With the teams tied 2-2 and less than two minutes left for the final whistle, Zabeel’s Sabri Jameel received a red card for bringing down Dovenir Domingues Da Paiva, and the Brazilian striker converted the resultant penalty for the 3-2 win.
