Source: Kuwait Times

Egypt’s LelMakasa futsal team was up to task and won the Kuwait Mini World Futsal Club Tournament title in the final match against Ukraine’s Cardinal 3-1. The tournament was held under the patronage of HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak, who asked Information Minister and State Minister for Youth Affairs Sheikh Salman Sabah Al-Salem Al-Humoud Al-Sabah to represent him at the final match.

LelMakasa’s win comes as a huge surprise as it was not expected to reach the final, but the team proved all experts wrong and deserved to be champions. The match began enthusiastically and strongly, but both teams were careful not to allow the other to reach the goal effectively. The fear of the final was apparent at the start of the match, though Cardinal had the upper hand. LelMakasa resorted to counterattacks, relying on the speed of Ayman Abdelqader, Ahmad Yusri and Mizo.

The rhythm of the match picked up, and Cardinal’s player Trygubets Sergii had a very strong shot that hit the crossbar, followed by another shot that goalkeeper Ibrahim Theyab handled skillfully and kept his goal clean. LelMakasa started to get into the match and penetrated from the middle in 16th minute when Zizo was able to translate a pass from Mizo and scored the first goal of the match.

LelMakasa players drew confidence but missed several scoring opportunities. Seconds before the end of the first half, Cardinal counterattacked, resulting in Herhelyuk Oleskandr scoring the equalizer and that is how the first half ended. The second half saw both teams slow down coupled with Cardinal’s cautious play, while LelMakasa was affected physically. The Egyptian players almost scored the second goal if it was not for the goalkeeper’s skills, and the second half came to an end.

The teams went into extra time, in which play continued as before. In the second half of extra time, LelMakasa scored their second goal in the 47th minute of the match through Mohammad Idris. The Egyptian players resorted to slowing the match down and relied on counterattacks once again, while Cardinal did all it could, including power plays and pushing their goalkeeper forward in an attempt to score the equalizer. But LelMakasa’s defence remained intact, and the final minute of the match saw Ramadhan Ghareeb score the third goal which sealed LelMakasa’s win.

Cardinal’s goalkeeper was named as best goalkeeper of the tournament, who gave an outstanding performance and defended his goal valiantly. The best player’s award went to another Cardinal player Bondar Oleksandr, who was the unanimous choice due to his performance leading his team to the final match. A player from Spain’s Santiago won the top scorer award, while Croatia’s Alumnus won the clean play award.

Minister of Information and State Minister for Youth Affairs Sheikh Salman Al-Humoud congratulated the organizers on the success of the tournament and also congratulated LelMakasa on this win, considering it a win by all Arabs. Sheikh Salman thanked Sheikh Talal Al-Mohammad and members of the higher organizing committee along with all those who contributed to the success of this international event. Sheikh Salman congratulated Kuwait for this achievement through the efforts of officials under the leadership of Sheikh Talal.

Meanwhile, Sheikh Talal expressed his pleasure at this major achievement, adding that “we worked hard in order to make Kuwait a pioneer and I believe this goal was achieved”. He thanked all those who worked in the committees, and all those who contributed to the tournament’s success. He also thanked the Kuwait and Gulf media for covering the event comprehensively. Sheikh Talal gave special thanks to the fans who came to watch from day one, adding the tournament will continue in the coming years.

Egypt’s Ambassador to Kuwait Abdulkareem Suleiman said he was happy with LelMakasa’s win against a strong team like Cardinal. He said LelMakasa played well and used high technical skills, enabling them to become champions. Suleiman thanked Kuwait for hosting this tournament and the Egyptian team, and thanked Sheikh Talal for inviting the team.

Sheikh Salman, Sheikh Talal, Marzouq Al-Khorafi and Faisal Al-Jazaf distributed medals and cups to the winners. LelMakasa was awarded $100,000 as champions, Cardinal received $50,000 for finishing second while third-placed team, Spain’s Santiago, and fourth placed Croatia’s Alumnus were awarded $25,000 each.





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