Half way through to the knock-out stages Dubai Schools Football Cup Heats Up

Dubai, UAE – 26 January 2014 – Dubai Schools Football Cup's third week was thrill filled as the momentum builds towards the knock out rounds in February.

On the girls pitch energy levels where high and some of the Cup's best matches were played this week.  Leading the U16 girls group after week 3 are the Lycee Francais International George Pompidou, The Winchester School (Jebel Ali) and St. Mary's Catholic School. The Lycee George Pompidou scored a 1-0 win against the Dubai International School with an impressive goal by Loreilei Tetaud.    

The Winchester School (Jebel Ali) and St. Mary's Catholic School played a challenging match with St. Mary's Catholic School coming away with a 1-0 win, leaving the two teams tied in points in the standings, hot on the tails of the Lycee.

One of the day's most exciting girls' matches was the U16 Princess Haya School (PHS) vs Dubai International School, Garhoud (DIS). The cheering section for Princess Haya roared for their team. Maitha Abdulrahman, PHS goalie, put up a solid wall against DIS, but Garhoud played their way to a clear 4 – 1 win.
 
But that only increased PHS's determination, “We'll be back next week with a whole crowd. This tournament is giving our U16 and U13 girls an amazing opportunity to experience what it's like to be part of a competitive and lively tournament. We are so thankful to Inspiratus, Dubai Sports Council, Dubai Sports City for providing this environment and to make healthy and wholesome food available to the players from Fait Maison Cuisine,” said Coach Shreen Hegazy. They promised to come with an entire percussion section including tablas and cymbals next week in the race to win the unofficial spirit competition.

In the U13 girls group the Dubai Arab American School and Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein School are leading the standings.  The Dubai Arab American School won both matches demonstrating great skills in their play today, especially by goals scorers Hessa Khaled and Amena Aboud. 

But the boys' excitement and drive to clear a path to the quarterfinals was not to be outdone.  Two teams, Dubai National School and Winchester School show promise in standings after 3 weeks of matches with 15 points each placing them at the top of the standings.   Dubai National School's U15 boys won both matches today, with a 5 -2 win against Dubai International School and a 5-2 win over Mohammed Bin Rashid Model School.  

“Our team has been working hard and we are very happy with the results of today's matches.  We think we are in a great position today and hopefully this team of hard working young men will win the tournament this year,” said Coach Shabaan Hussain of Dubai National School.

The U12 boys team impressed with outstanding talents discovered on the pitches.  Dubai National School has an impressive 21 points after 3 weeks of matches and there are 7 schools all with very close scores after 3 weeks, leaving this group wide open.  

At the request of the young players who are looking to continuously improve their football skills on and off the field, the Cup's team of professional coaches under the guidance of Dubai Sports City Football Director and former Real Madrid star Michel Salgado, decided to organize a fun challenge that helps to improve young players' agility skills, a key winning attribute in football.

More than 150 contestants took part in the Crossbar Challenge whose target was in fact to NOT score any goals at all. Rather the skill highlighted here was to hit only the cross bar, a feat requiring concentration, precision, and exquisite ball control. The Arab Unity School's players, proved the strongest and walked away with both prizes. Second place went to Ibrahim Adnan who won a Spanish Soccer Schools jersey signed by football legend Michel Salgado; and the first place prize, a football signed by Michel Salgado, went to Shariq Syed.

All in all a great day of matches was had by all and everyone's sporting spirits were high as witnessed by the support given to the matches by excited fans. With three weeks to go in the round-robin stages, who moves on to the quarterfinals is still anybody's guess. 

 
For more information visit and standings visit : www.dubaischoolsfc.com or https://www.facebook.com/DubaiSchoolsFC