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ARSENAL ladies have returned from a thrilling visit to Lebanon with victories under their belts, a hatful of memories and scores of new friends.
Arsenal School Bahrain Ladies were invited for a three-day tour to Beirut by the Girls Football Academy (GFA) to play in two friendly matches in preparation for the Lebanese Ladies League starting in April.
The trip was partly-funded by Arsenal Soccer School Bahrain and provided preparation for some of the players entering the Barcelona Cup competition or competing in the US Disney Cup in July.
The first match took place at the Al Ansar facility in wet and cold conditions – an experience in itself for some of the players.
GFA started strongly and took an early lead. However, Arsenal began to find their game and some great flowing football led to a fine finish from Sara Al Aali.
A mix-up in defence allowed GFA to take the lead again. But the Arsenal team produced some sustained attacking football which resulted in Bahrain international Deena Rahman scoring from the edge of the box to level the score.
Minutes later Alaa Al Derazi’s powerful shot gave the goalkeeper no chance and sent Arsenal in at half-time with a 3-2 lead.
In the second half Arsenal adjusted a few players into different positions and this helped produce a more solid performance as Rahman scored for the visitors to secure a hard-earned 4-2 victory.
The second fixture played on Saturday morning had a less intense atmosphere with both teams feeling the after-effects of the game the night before. Arsenal’s fitness levels proved to be the difference as they won 4-1 with Reema Al Qassab, Sara, Samantha Turner (penalty) and Alaa getting on the score sheet.
The players also enjoyed a trip to the Jeita Grotto – one of the new natural wonders of the world – and had lunch in Solidaire.
The other members of the squad were Rama Salem, Claudia Burgos, Darya Vyshegorodskaya, Hayley Kunde, Nicole and Lauren Moir.
