Valencia line up Real Madrid clash
Dubai Club to face AC Milan in semi-finals of Hamdan U-18 football
Real Madrid will meet fellow Spaniards Valencia, while AC Milan will take on Dubai Club in the semifinals of the Fifth Hamdan Bin Mohammad U-18 International Football Tournament to be played at the Dubai Police Officers Club today.
The all-Spanish affair will be played at 4.30pm, while the Italian champions will take on the only team from Dubai at 7.15pm.
In Wednesday’s final round of preliminary matches, AC Milan blanked a second string Al Ahli 5-0, after Valencia had booked the fourth and final spot in the semifinals with a 6-0 whitewash of Al Shabab.
Leading the way for Valencia was the combination of Javi Lopez and Esmail Martinez, who got a brace each, while Fidel Sanchez and Jaimie Sierra got the other two to help the three-time defending champions reach six points from three matches.
Martinez opened the scoring on a humid evening with a pinpoint header in the seventh minute and added a second in the 16th when he curled in a left footer past Rashid Mohammad Ebrahim in the Al Shabab goal.
First-half carnage
Lopez then stepped in with his two goals in the 20th and 44th minutes as Valencia walked out with a 4-0 advantage at half-time. Sierra got his name on the score sheet in the 57th minute and Sanchez completed the rout four minutes after the hour.
“We needed an intense match like this one. We started off with on a very offensive mode and that helped us with those early goals. After that we could dictate terms to the opponents,” Valencia coach Miguel Grau, told Gulf News.
The second match later on Wednesday was of very little significance as AC Milan thrashed a below-par Al Ahli 5-0.
Michael Fabbro opened the scoring, while Luca Vido added a quick brace for a 3-0 score at half-time. Gianfilippo made it 4-0 and Giovanni Crociata ended the scoreline five minutes from the final whistle as the Italians finished with maximum nine points from three matches.