Aspire Academy’s U-13 football team emerged victorious last week against Atletico Madrid of Spain and Eintracht Frankfurt of Germany in the latest edition of the Academy’s Tri-Series tournament.
The Academy’s youngsters were dominant in their opening match with Eintracht Frankfurt at the Aspire Zone’s outdoor pitches, with Rashid Al Abdulla and Abdullah Feroun scoring two brilliant goals to end the game 2-0.
The following day, Aspire battled Atletico Madrid in another thrilling encounter. Rashid Al Abdulla again struck with precision in the 17th minute to give Aspire Academy’s team the lead.
The Academy’s side then went on to defend their advantage as Atletico searched for an equalizer in vain until the final whistle ended proceedings 1-0.
Commenting on his team’s victory, Aspire Academy U-13 Head Coach, Filipe Sanchez Mateos, said:
“Atletico are a top side and you saw how our boys had to focus and work hard to achieve this win. This is what we look for in this competition: tough and challenging games that require mental as well as physical strength. The team has made us proud of the enormous amount of work that so many people put into these preparations. I am most delighted for the boys, however, as they took on two really good teams in Eintracht Frankfurt and Atletico and still emerged victorious”.
The series also featured U-15 and U-14 age group tournaments. Atletico ran out victorious in both of these, meaning Aspire’s U-13 side was therefore the only thing preventing Atletico from returning home with a clean sweep of the entire series.
