Dubai: Dubai Civil Defence, Mohammad Ali Taim and the Late Ebrahim Marouf team all secured huge wins as the defending champions hung on for a 2-2 draw on the opening night of the Eighth Maktoum Bin Rashid Memorial Football Championship that got under way at the Dubai Police Officers Club late on Saturday.
Winners of the tournament last year with a 2-1 win over Bin Darwish, the Dubai Police team had to rely on a penalty conversion from Al Nasr star Waleed Ahmad to secure a 2-2 draw against Leader Sport after Dubai Civil Defence had fought their way to a 4-2 win against visiting Ras Al Khaimah Defence in the two Group A matches.
In Group B action, the Mohammad Al Taim team got off to a winning start with a 4-1 win over Al Fursan (The Knights), while the Late Ebrahim Marouf side relied on a hat-trick from Jamal Marouf to breeze past Abu Dhabi Police 6-3 and get full points.
Sanad Ali opened the scoring for the hosts in the tenth minute only to see Leader Sport draw level two minutes later through Ahmad Dia and then take the lead through Nasser Abdul Aadi two minutes into the second half. But Al Nasr striker Waleed Ahmad ensured a point at the end of the match when he coverted from the spot after being brought down inside the box.
Former UAE and Al Shabab defender Mohammad Abdullah, who captained Dubai Police, was pleased with the outcome. “The first match is always a tough one, and a draw for us today is better than a loss,” Abdullah told Gulf News.
“Other than a practice match, this team has not played together for some time now. I am hopeful that we will get better as the competition progresses. We came here to win, but tonight we were not fortunate to finish with the three points,” he added.
Earlier, Major General Mohammad Saeed Al Merri, Assistant Commander-in-Chief of Dubai Police for Community Affairs and Chairman of the Higher Organising Committee was joined by Tournament Director Ali Khalfan Al Mansouri and organising committee members, Tareq Abdullah Al Rumaithi and Nader Ahmad at the opening of the competition.
Held under the patronage of Shaikh Mohammad Bin Maktoum Al Maktoum, this year’s edition of the tournament has attracted 19 teams who have been divided into four groups. After an initial preliminary round of matches, the best two from each group will advance to the knockout quarter-final stages, with the final being played on June 4.
