Opportunity for UAE clubs to see where they measure up
dubai — As compared to some of the top Leagues in Europe and South America, the UAE’s top flight is still taking flight. The football scene may have started at an amateurish level in the mid-70s but it was only just a decade ago that the League here turned truly professional.
But in these 10 years, the Arabian Gulf League has taken a big leap and been voted the top League in Asia. Football clubs here have also taken a leaf out of some of the illustrious clubs and invested heavily in their own youth academies, providing them a breeding ground for young talent to grow and make it into the first team.
There has been an exponential shift and it will be an exciting prospect to see where these youth academies measure up to some of the top age group clubs from Europe and South America.
The Hamdan Bin Mohammed U-16 International Football Championship, which began at the Dubai Police Officers Club on Tuesday, will provide a marker and it remains to be seen if one of the three UAE clubs can put these top clubs to shade.
Shabab Al Ahli, Al Nasr and Al Wasl join an impressive roster that includes Spain’s Real Madrid, PSV Eindhoven of The Netherlands, Germany’s Borrusia Dortmund, Brazil’s CR Flamengo and Egypt’s Al Ahly.
No UAE club has won the tournament, into its eighth installment, with the then Al Shabab and Al Nasr coming the closest. Al Shabab (now merged to form Shabab Al Ahli Dubai) were runnersup to Italy’s Lega Pro in 2012 when the tournament was held for the Under-19 age group. Al Nasr were to be bested by Spain’s Valencia a year later.
One club which can understand what that pain is like would be Real Madrid. The Spanish club were runners-up on their tournament debut in 2015, losing to Italy’s AC Milan. A year later, Real Madrid were stunned by eventual winners Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal 3-4 in the semifinal.
The Spaniards are here again, looking to lay their hands on a trophy that has eluded them thus far.
“For us, it in a unique experience to come here. Real Madrid are a big club and one of the best clubs in the world. And our goal always is to win the title,” Real Madrid defender David Cuenca said at the official launch at the Dubai Sports Council office in Dubai Design District on Tuesday.
Real Madrid are drawn in Group B alongside Borrusia Dortmund, Shabab Al Ahli Dubai and Al Nasr, They begin their campaign against Shabab Al Ahli on April Wednesday and then take on Al Nasr on Friday before wrapping up their group engagements with a fixture against Borrusia Dortmund, the 2016 finalists, on Sunday.
The Latin America flavour comes in the form of CR Flamengo, who are Brazil’s Under-16 champions as well as the Rio de Janeiro winners.
“We are always trying to be the best. So our target here is to return home with the title. We are the Rio de Janeiro state U16 champions as well as the Brazil U16 champions, and we have a huge number of fans who will looking forward to us doing well here,” said Gabriel Noga.
james@khaleejtimes.com