ESG Football Academy wins Singapore JSSL International 7’s football tournament

MUSCAT: ESG Football Academy has finished its football season in the best possible way.

Its Elite U15 team supported by Alizz Islamic Bank and OOCEP arrived back in Muscat 2 weeks ago victorious from the JSSL International 7’s Football tournament in Singapore.

Coaches Jay Wynter and Jamal Al-Mahrami selected the ESG squad, which consisted of 11 Omani and 1 expatriate. The tournament known as Asia’s Youth World Cup sees over 350 teams from across the globe gather in Singapore every year to compete for the winning trophy in their respective age category.

ESG Football Academy battled it out over 3 days playing a total of 9 games taking on teams from Japan, China, Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand and Hong Kong eventually beating the favourites and last year’s winners Jakarta Elite from Indonesia 2-0 in what was an entertaining final played in front of nearly 2,000 people.

Wynter said, “Simply participating in such a prestigious tournament is great but to then go on and win was something very special. I am so proud of these boys as they gave absolutely everything over the three days and were deserved winners in the end. They represented Oman in great fashion gaining a lot of experience along the way. These players definitely deserve a lot of credit on how they handled themselves both on and off the field.”

He added, “We were definite underdogs going into the final match against a very tough Indonesian team, but we stuck to a game plan and thankfully all the hard work paid off in the end. ESG was immediately invited back next year to defend their trophy so we will certainly look forward to that. I’d like to say a special thanks to Alizz Islamic Bank and OOCEP for their sponsorship and support on this trip enabled us to make it the perfect trip for the boys.”

Commenting on the success of ESG Academy U15 team Murtadha Al Lawati, head of Marketing and Corporate Communications of Alizz Islamic Bank said, “Alizz Islamic Bank has always been at the forefront of supporting youth development in the Sultanate and we are proud to have sponsored ESG Football Academy. Football is the most popular sport in the country and we want to encourage and support the efforts of organisations that are investing heavily in the game through youth development programmes. Alizz Islamic Bank will continue to allocate funds to support various civil foundations and institutions, as part of our commitment to CSR and the overall benefit of the society.”