DUBAI- Al Jazira Club expect a big performance from the budding stars who carry Middle East hopes into the finals of the Volkswagen Junior World Masters, football’s leading U13-boys tournament, in Italy this weekend.
The Al Jazira Club are in Rome to represent the Middle East in the climax of the tournament which has this year united 4,700 players, 333 teams and Volkswagen dealers from around the world.
They are among 23 regional winners through to the world finals which climaxes on Sunday (11 May) at the famous Stadio Olimpico, less than 48 hours after the Serie A clash between Roma and Juventus at the same venue the previous evening.
“The standard of football will be extremely high, but we’re confident that Al Jazira Club will give a very good account of themselves,” said Thierry Seys, General Manager of Volkswagen at Al Nabooda Automobiles.
“Community development has always been at the heart of Al Nabooda Automobiles, and we introduced the Volkswagen Junior Masters at a local level in 2010 as part of our commitment to give something back to the community where we conduct our business.”
“The Al Jazira Club players have shown all their best qualities to get to Rome and will benefit enormously from the experience they’ll gain there.”
Al Jazira Club’s passage to Rome began when they won the Dubai and
Northern Emirates qualifier for the Volkswagen Junior Masters, staged by Al Nabooda Automobiles at the Jebel Ali Centre of Excellence on 12 April.
Along with the runners up, Desert Rangers, they went through to the regional finals at Dubai Sports City the following weekend where they competed against ten teams from across the region.
Al Jazira emerged as Volkswagen Junior Masters Middle East champions after beating Oman’s Al Jazeera in a penalty shoot-out following a goalless final.
For the trip to Italy, Al Jazira Club have named an unchanged 16 player squad which is headed by Walid Al Junaibi who said: “It’s a great experience for the team as they will compete against others from Australia, East Asia, Latin America, Africa and Europe, each with their own style of play.”
“The players have great expectations and we also believe in them. It’s not going to be easy, but we will give all we can. We are flying for one purpose – to win the finals and prove ourselves.”
Coach Wael Al Sisi said: “This generation is the best in the history of the club in terms of the quality of the players and their skills, as well as the size of the squad overall as we have 35 young players.
“Winning the local round of the tournament made the team more confident, and they gained more confidence again by winning the Middle East finals. Their hopes are high, and I believe they will form a great first team in the future.”