Source:Kuwait Times

Today will see the end of Kuwait Mini World Futsal Club Tournament, which was launched Ramadan 1st under the patronage of HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak, with the participation of 16 teams. Today, the champion of the first edition will be declared as Egypt’s Lelmakasa will face Croatia for the gold.

Lelmakasa succeeded in reaching the final match in one of the biggest surprises, as they beat the team thought by all observers to win the title, Spain’s Santiago by the score of 3-0. Meanwhile, in the other semifinal Ukraine’s champs Cordinal succeeded in defeating Croatia’s Alumnus by 2-1.

Alumnus started very strongly and pressed deep near Cardinal’s goal and were able to score in the 8th minute by Josip Juric. Alumnus played fast, reaching the goal easily, while Cardinal was relying on counter attacks but did not finish them as required, as the Croatian goal-keeper defended his goal very well, and that is how the first half ended.

When the second half started, Cardinal began to return to its known form, and began to impose it slowly, while Alumnus started to protect its lead and was very conservative and hardly attacked their opponent’s goal. Cardinal finally tied the score in the 30th minute through its player Herhelyuk Olesksandr. Cardinal pressed for the win, as moral of Alumnus players went down significantly, and fans began preparing for the penalty kicks when Piddubnyi Serhii scored the winning goal with eight seconds remaining, leading his team to the final match.

In the second match, Lelmakasa played one of their best matches, and “cooled” down Santiago’s players, who seemed to be tired. Lelmakasa players seemed to be better physically and technically, though in the 8th minute Alan Brandi scored and gave his team the lead. Lelmakasa maintained their determination to win, and it was in the 9th minute when its player Ahmad Yusri was able to equalize, and sent the Egyptian fans into a wild celebration.

Ahmad Yusri was able to add another goal, with the total failure of Santiago defence to deal with him. The second half saw both teams playing faster, with Lelmakasa attempting to add a third goal, while Santiago was desperate to score the equalizer, and was able to do so at the 23rd minute.

Santiago attempted to gain control of the match after the equalizer, while Lelmakasa players played hard and defended their goal so well, in addition to the outstanding performance of the goal-keeper Ibrahim Theyab. Finally Egyptian player Ayman Abdelqader added the third goal, and that is how the match ended, in a huge surprise Lelmakasa win by the score of 3-2.

In a statement following his teams match, Alumnus coach said he was proud of his team’s performance “We played convincingly during the tournament, and reaching the semifinal is something that makes us proud, though we were looking for the final and play for the championship.” He added “the Ukrainian team was better than us most of the time and had more chances than we did, as we gave a fantastic first half, but in the second, our level dropped so much.”

Alumnus team coach said his players lack of experience cost them the match in front of Cardinal, adding “we have a group of players who did not participate in major championships, contrary to the Ukrainians who used this advantage so well and won.

The Croatian team coach lauded the “world organization,” as he described it of the tournament in addition to the Kuwaiti atmosphere. He said “it was great and we enjoyed participating in this tournament, and it was a great and beneficial experience for us.

Ukraine’s Cardinal coach was happy to qualify for the final match after defeating Alumnus. He said “the match was very difficult, because Alumnus is a strong competitor and has a wonderful group of player, and made things difficult for us.

He said we were lucky during the match, and despite receiving a surprise goal, but we were lucky to win in the final seconds of the match, but we cannot rely on that in the final match because luck will not be a major factor in the final.

Spain’s Santiago coach said he was satisfied with his team’s performance in front of Lelmakasa despite the loss. He said “we played a good match and imposed our style from start to finish and had several easy chances but did not use them well, adding to that the Egyptian goal keeper’s performance was fantastic, and was helped by the strong defence.” He added “the Egyptian players fought for every ball and succeeded in defusing our attacks against their goal.”

He said we committed some mistakes that were used very well by the Egyptian team, and all their counter attacks were effective. He said that his team missed the services of two of their best players due to injury.

He said “We are pleased to participate in this tournament and it was technically at high level, as we faced several well-established teams and different schools. We benefited so much technically, especially by our young players who gained so much experience and will use them in the league and other tournaments in the new season.”

Sheikh Faisal Abdallah Al-Malek and Ibrahim Al-Fouzan presented the chairman of the higher organizing committee Sheikh Talal Al-Mohammad with “Ramadan Qirqian,” during the semi-finals of KMWFC Tournament. The Qirqian was presented in the name of “Yes we can” group.

Meanwhile, president of workers at the Ministry of Information Union Yaseen Abdallah Al-Farisi presented Sheikh Talal with a memento, in appreciation of his efforts to take the Futsal tournament to this outstanding level.





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