Dubai: The visiting du LaLiga High Performance Centre (HPC) U18 and U16 squads secured impressive wins against Sevilla’s junior sides earlier this week.
The Under-18 team from the UAE followed up their 2-1 win against Cadiz CF with a solitary-goal triumph against Sevilla last Sunday.
Driss Matni was the lone goalscorer when he found the back of the net off a pass from his captain Mohammad Bouherrafa in the 15th minute.
The Under-16 team recovered from their loss to Cadiz CF with a 4-1 win against Sevilla. The hero of the night was striker Mehdi Elkhamlichi with a well-struck hat-trick.
Elkhamlichi opened the scoring in the tenth minute, added a second in the 25th and then finished off his hat-trick in the 56th minute.
Abhinav John, 13, scored the fourth goal when he swooped on a loose ball and tucked it in from distance.
LaLiga head coach Rafael Gil was impressed with the way both teams performed.
“The high intensity training the du LaLiga HPC teams have undergone has developed our players into world-class footballers. They were up against one of the best teams in Europe and they did enough to bring the points home,” Gil noted.
“The players have been working hard and I have seen them continue to push themselves every day. I look forward to even stronger matches and more victories in the days to come,” he added.
The du LaLiga HPC U18 and U16 teams, comprising players scouted through duFC, are in Spain as part of an annual 21-day intensive LaLiga Camp with competitive matches against the top LaLiga youth clubs.
While it’s the second such trip for the U18 team, it’s the first for the U16 team who joined the by-invitation-only du LaLiga HPC three months ago, after the end of the duFC season.
The du HPC teams’ next challenge will be friendly matches against Almeria (August 12), Granada (August 15) and finally against Malaga (August 19).
