Nation’s best 8 teams claim their spot at duFC finals
dubai — With the finals of duFC just one step away, the Abu Dhabi, Northern Emirates and Dubai’s 32 strongest teams in the UAE Schools, Streets Cups faced off in the national semifinals on Saturday to secure their place in the finals of duFC, in partnership with Liga. The competition’s most intense match day yet witnessed dramatic exits and some favourites clearing their way as eight teams made it to the nationwide Finals to be held on Saturday at Dubai Mall’s Ice Rink in front of thousands of spectators.
The stakes were even higher as teams were not only battling it out to take home the gold and an unforgettable trip to Spain to watch Barcelona in a live match in Malaga but also to impress the LaLiga scouts who were closely observing every match of the only international scouting platform in the Middle East.
In a surprising upset, UAE Schools Cup Boys U16 defending champions International School of Choueifat (Dubai) suffered a major defeat at the hands of Al Mawakeb School Garhoud, with the deciding goals scored just moments before the final whistle. Al Mawakeb Schools Garhoud will face Al Maarifa Private School, Sharjah, for the championship after Al Maarifa defeated Abu Dhabi’s International Academic School (IAS). International School of Choueifat (Dubai) will play IAS for third place. In the boys U14 category, in a surprise turn of events the young players from Hatta’s Rashid Bin Saeed School beat tournament favorites Dubai English Speaking College (DESC) in their final and toughest match of the day — securing their spot in the Finals.
Rashid Bin Saeed will face off against Abu Dhabi’s British School Al Khubairat who displayed superior technical skills throughout the tournament and manage to outplay the strong Al Ain’s Al Khazna team. DESC will face Al Khazna for third place.