The Mini Club World Cup in Kuwait finally got underway today, in line with the first day of Ramadam. The first day saw Cardinal defeat Al-Nasser 2-0 and Misr LelMakasa take a 2-1 victory against Atlético Huila in Group A.

In the first game the Ukrainians Cardinal faced Al-Nasser from Saudi Arabia. Al-Nasser employed a strategy of defending at 12 meters and waiting for the fast break to create opportunities. This allowed Cardinal to dominate possession, though they did not look overly threatning.

However allowing so much possession and time on the ball to the Ukrainians was dangerous. A warning came when Cardinal hit the post midway through the 1st half. A few minutes some poor defending saw them hit the post again. The defender went to clear the ball but inadvertently hit it against Trygubets, the Ukranian team’s captain, and it deflected into the goal. The teams went into the half time break with a 1-0 scoreline.

In the second half Al Nasser pushed for an equaliser and had some chances but couldn’t convert them. Cardinal took advantage of this increased attacking intent from their opponents and Trygubets scored at the 2nd post from a 4v2 counter attack. With 3 minutes left on the clock Al Nasser opted to use their goalkeeper as an attacker in the opponent’s half but were unable to create any chances and the game finished 2-0.

In the 2nd game of the night Atlético Huila from Colombia took on Egyptian side Misr LelMakasa. Both teams were unable to create any clear scoring opportunities until the Colombian side were awarded a penalty. Misr switched their goalkeeper but it didn’t matter as the penalty was missed, hitting the crossbar. The sides went into halftime 0-0.

Shortly after the half time break the Colombians were awarded another 6 meter penalty after a questionable refereeing decision. This time they would not be so wasteful and Rodriguez despatched the penalty to make it 1-0. Cheered on by many Egyptians in the crowd Misr scored an equaliser with 6 minutes to play from a tap in at the 2nd post by Othman.

With just 2 minutes remaining on the clock Atlético’s Balaguera received his 2nd yellow card of the game and his team would have to spend the rest of the match with one player down. Misr tried to take advantage of the numerical advantage but it was during a 3v2 counter attack with just 6 seconds to go that would give them the lead. The crowd went wild and so did the goalscorer Smasiri. Too wild in the opinion of the referee and he was sent off. However there was no time for Atlético to score and the Egyptians took the 3 points.





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