Al Ahli top Dubai qualifying rounds

Al Ahli rode on two quick strikes from their foreign pros to get past a fighting Al Nasr and top the qualifying group from Dubai at the inaugural season of the UAE Beach Soccer League played at the Al Mamzar Beach Park on Saturday.

Swiss skipper Stephan Maier and Portuguese international Madjer scored within a minute of each other in the final period to give title aspirants Al Ahli a hard-fought 3-1 win and put them at the top of the standings after three rounds of qualifiers.

Al Nasr ended in second and Hatta Club became the third and final team to qualify from the Dubai zone when former UAE striker Bakhit Saad scored a hat-trick to lead them to a 5-3 win against his former club Al Shabab in an earlier match.

That result was enough for Hatta to qualify for the main competition along with Al Ahli and Al Nasr, who will now join five other teams from the Fujairah and Sharjah zones.

Al Ahli did not have things going their way as Al Nasr took the lead through Ali Karim at the end of the first period. However, Rashid Hassan secured an equaliser in the second period to keep the teams tied 1-1. In the third period, Al Ahli came up with two goals within a minute as Maier and then Madjer found the back of the net to put the issue beyond Al Nasr.

Ali Karim was adjudged the best player while Madjer was the top scorer with 16 goals to his name. Hatta Club’s Amer Mohammed was the best goalkeeper.

Earlier in an inconsequential match, Dubai Club defeated Al Wasl 7-5 to keep the Zabeel outfit without a single win throughout this competition.

Dr Ahmed Al Sharif, Secretary General, Dubai Sports Club was the chief guest and handed out the trophies and individual awards to the players after the final round of qualifiers.

The main rounds of the inaugural edition of the UAE Beach Soccer League organised by the Dubai Sports Council will now be held at the Al Mamzar Beach from April 11-23. The three Dubai teams will take on the five sides from Fujiarah and Sharjah that had already qualified to the main competition last month.
 

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