(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) It was tough on juventus fc after it reached the final by defeating hot favourites zagros a 3-2 in the first semi-final
Players from hae group celebrate after winning the corporate football league. — supplied photo
The hae group won the fourth edition of the corporate football league at dubai sports city this week beating juventus fc 3-1 in the final.
The hae group became the third name on the trophy following on from previous winners victory heights champions in editions one and three and air arabia which triumphed in the second edition of the tournament.
It was tough on juventus fc after it reached the final by defeating hot favourites zagros a 3-2 in the first semi-final. but the hae group which beat le club 55 3-1 in the second semi-final proved too strong in the ultimate match.
Le club 55 at least had the consolation of winning the third and fourth placed play-off against zagros a sealing victory on penalties after the match finished level at 1-1.
It was a bitter pill for zagros a to swallow especially after it was the only side to go through the initial group stages of the tournament unbeaten. but defeat was not a complete shock as juventus fc was one of only three sides to take a point from it when the two teams met in that group stage.
The hae group earned dh1500 in prize money for the triumph as well as free entry to the next edition of the dubai sports city corporate football league plus two hours of free use of the pitch at the indoor dome at dubai sports city football academy.
The tournament was seven-a-side and took place within sight of the office of former real madrid and spain legend michel salgado now the dubai sports city football academy director of football.
And looking back on the action michel salgado said: “congratulations to the hae group for winning the fourth edition of the dubai sports city corporate football league.
“the team is a worthy winner because having got through the group stage its players did the best in the pressure situation of knockout football at the back-end of the tournament.
“commiserations to the three others sides involved in the final stages – juventus fc le club 55 and zagros a but they all did very well to get this far in what has been by far the best and most competitive tournament we have staged.
“the format with each side guaranteed a minimum of ten matches followed by the knockout stages has given us some fantastic action all of it under the floodlights of the dubai sports city football academy.
“and the success of the tournament carries on what has been a really exciting few months here with the dubai schools cup taking place at our state-of-the-art facilities and we have also had a visit from west ham united from the english premier league.
“we are currently in the third term of our ongoing spanish soccer schools and socatots programmes and both are going superbly well with fantastic numbers.
“things are going from strength to strength at the dubai sports city football academy. we look forward to the next edition of the corporate football league starting later this month and to more and more people coming to see what we have to offer with our world-class facilities and our world-class coaching.”
The tournament involved a record number of 22 sides that started out on the quest for glory. they were divided into two groups each of 11 sides but only the top four line-ups from each of the groups were able to make it through to the knockout stages.
With the fourth edition of the tournament having that record number of teams taking part it meant matches being divided between the indoor and outdoor pitches at the dsc football academy.
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