Dubai: Al Ahli finished ahead of city rivals Al Nasr to book a spot in the semi-final on Friday of the Fourth Hamdan Bin Mohammad U-17 International Football Championship being played at Al Nasr Club.
While Al Ahli will take on defending champions Valencia FC in the first semi-final, the second semi-final will be played between Torino FC and Al Nasr, Saudi Arabia.
The Red Knights and Al Nasr ended their three matches in Group B with two wins apiece. But Al Ahli finished with a better goal difference to advance to the semi-finals while Al Nasr finished third in the group.
It was a different scenario in Group A as both Valencia and Al Nasr, Saudi Arabia maintained their unbeaten records. The defending champions from Spain started off with a 2-1 win over Al Shabab and then hammered Al Wasl 9-0 before settling to a 1-1 draw against the Saudi Arabian champions.
Al Nasr defeated Al Wasl 4-3 and then squeezed past Al Shabab 1-0 to finish in second place with seven points.
“We have had some interesting group matches and I am sure these have been a huge learning curve for our young players from Dubai,” hoped Abdullah Shadad, Deputy Chairman of the tournament’s organising committee.
“This competition is part of our strategic plan at Dubai Sports Council with the goal of developing football at grassroots level by exposing our young players to various brands of football,” he added.
Valencia will face Al Ahli in the first semi-final at 4.30pm, followed by the second semi-final between Torino and Al Nasr, Saudi Arabia at 7pm. Both matches will be played at Al Nasr Club’s Al Tayer Stadium.
