Throngs of devoted fans at The Sevens witness the best youth football in the UAE

Dubai, UAE – March 25, 2019 – The nation’s greatest youth football teams claimed their winning titles yesterday at du Football Champions, in partnership with LaLiga, and home of the official UAE Schools Cup, Street Cup and UAE Girls Challenge. du Football Champions Season 4 drew to a close following a day of intense matches between Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Al Ain and Dubai’s best teams in front of a stadium of ardent supporters at The Sevens. Each match displayed professional-level football amid fierce competition. 

The Finals of the award-winning du Football Champions was attended by senior officials from du, LaLiga, the Sports Councils, Ministry of Education and the UAE Schools Sports Association. 

On the occasion, Osman Sultan, EITC CEO, said: “We are so proud to be here at du Football Champions to support today’s young players become tomorrow’s football champions. During the first four years of this unique scouting platform we created in partnership with LaLiga, over 25,000 youth from across the UAE have played in this world-class tournament for a chance to be discovered and dozens have already been recruited into professional football clubs. We are thrilled to play a part in elevating the level of football in the UAE and plan to continue producing world-class champions through du Football Champions and du LaLiga High Performance Centre.”

While the top youth football teams across the nation met for the final time this season for the chance to be crowned the best team of the nation, LaLiga coaches were on the lookout for exceptional talents who will be selected to join the du LaLiga High Performance Centre U12, U14, U16 and U18 teams. These teams will then be invited to attend the all-expenses paid LaLiga Summer Scouting Camp in Spain in August where they will play friendlies against top LaLiga youth clubs in Spain. During this camp they will be exposed to scouts from the clubs and similarly to past years, top players are expected to be offered trial opportunities.

Speaking on the finals, Fernando Sanz, Director General for LaLiga in MENA and duFC Director said: “We have seen exceptional football in the du Football Champions in its fourth season and an overall increase in the level of play over the last few years. This encouraged us to expand du LaLiga High Performance Centre from one age category to four, to add an Abu Dhabi Centre and to establish girls scouting. In a few short years, du LaLiga HPC has increased from 20 to 150 players and the HPC teams have won the nation’s official league for three year running. We look forward to welcome new talents from Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Northern Emirates whose journey to professional football careers is about to begin - thanks to the exceptional programme we have established at du LaLiga High Performance Center.” 

Fans were treated to excellent football in the UAE Schools Cup Boys U12 category between rival schools The International School of Choueifat and Dubai English Speaking College (DESC). Regulation time ended nil-nil followed by a penalty shoot-out. Choueifat claimed the title with a narrow 3-2 win.

The tide turned quickly for DESC though as they followed up on this loss with 2 straight wins in U14 against Sharjah’s Al Maarifa and U16 against Hatta’s Rashid Bin Saeed. Theirs was not the only dream to come true. Finally, and after four years of trying, Boys U18 Al Maarifa International Private School from Sharjah, crushed Fareeq Al Marhoum Ahmed with a 6-2 win securing them as Champions of the du Football Champions Boys U18 category.

During the first part of the day, the UAE Streets Cup’s Abu Dhabi’s Dragon Academy netted 4 goals to 1 against Stallions from Sharjah. Down one player, Al Ain City still managed to win 1–0 against Dubai’s Baki II. 

The UAE Girls Challenge LaLiga Valencia took an early lead holding on to it for a final 3-1 win against Dubai City F.C. 

Congratulations to the winning teams from the 2018-2019 season of du Football Champions:

UAE Schools Cup Boys U12:
1st Place – The International School of Choueifat – Dubai 

UAE Schools Cup Boys U14
1st Place – Dubai English Speaking College (DESC)

UAE Schools Cup Boys U16
1st Place – Dubai English Speaking College (DESC)

UAE Boys U18
1st Place – Al Maarifa International Private School – Sharjah 

UAE Girls Challenge
1st Place – LaLiga Valencia – Dubai 

UAE Streets Cup Boys U14
1st Place – Dragon Academy – Abu Dhabi 

UAE Streets Cup Boys U16
1st Place – Al Ain City – Al Ain

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