Dubai: Fohood Jumeirah confirmed their spot in the futsal competition quarter-finals with a gutsy 7-5 win over Al Bahri before a packed indoor hall at the Nad Al Sheba (NAS) Sports Complex late on Wednesday.
With just one spot on offer after XCAT had finished at the top of Group B on Monday itself, Fohood Jumeirah’s hard-fought win gave them six points to advance to the knock-out stages.
Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai Crown Prince and Chairman, Dubai Sports Council, met with 13 orphans and minors on the sidelines of the tournament. Shaikh Hamdan’s kind gesture comes in support of the UAE initiative for Connecting with Orphans and Minors, which was recently launched by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
Earlier, in the battle of giants to decide who topped Group A, it was the Ricardinho-led Fohood Zabeel securing the bragging rights with a 4-2 verdict over Al Zeer. Both teams qualified from the group with six points each.
After tussling for a major part of the first half, Al Zeer took the lead with only 43 seconds remaining when Gabriel De Oliveira Lima crashed his shot into the roof of the net. Fohood Zabeel were lucky to get the equaliser in their very first move of the second half when Talib Mohammed Alfzari accidentally scored into his own goal.
Ricardinho then took centre stage as he found the second and third goals within a minute to put Fohood Zabeel 3-1 clear. Sabri Jamil then made it 4-1, before the UAE player was shown a straight red card reducing Fohood to only four men on the field.
Marcenio Ribeiro Da Silva pulled one back, but that was as far as Al Zeer could go. “It was very important for us to win and keep our rhythm. We enter the quarter-finals now and we will need to focus totally and take it one match at a time from now on,” Ricardinho told Gulf News.
In two inconsequential matches, Al Nojoom ended on a winning note with a 3-1 result against Forsan Al Ittihad, while Group B leaders XCAT ended with nine points with a 3-2 win over Al Aseefa Falcons.
After Thursday’s final round of group games, the futsal will take a short break of three days before resuming with the quarter-finals on Monday (July 6).
Meanwhile, unbeaten Dubai Municipality will take on the Hamdan Heritage Centre (HHC) in the final of the wheelchair basketball to be played on July 5.
Dubai Municipality maintained their clean sheet with a 29-25 win over Public Prosecution while HHC got past Dubai Water and Electricity Authority (Dewa) 46-23.
UAE national team tennis player Omar Behroozian will commence the defence of his title in the UAE Nationals Padel Tennis competition with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Eisa Mohammad Sharif and Saeed Al Marri. In the second match, Mohammad Ahli and Abdullah Ahli defeated Ahmad Khalid Hussain and Mohammad Al Mansouri 6-2, 6-4.
— With inputs from WAM
