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A SQUAD of four schoolboy soccer aces representing Bahrain in an international tournament in the UK powered its way into the quarter-finals before being beaten by the team who went on to lift the trophy.
Arsenal Soccer School Bahrain (ASSB) attended the Arsenal Soccer Schools 3v3 World Cup Finals held at the Emirates Stadium in London.
This was the third year in succession that players from the Soccer City-based school in Janabiya have taken part.
The boys won the Arsenal Bahrain 3v3 contest to gain the honour of representing the kingdom in England.
Abdulla (Abood) Ruffaei, an Abdul Rahman Kanoo International School pupil from Riffa, Salem Hussain, who attends Malik bin Anas School, from Riffa, and St Christopher’s School pupils Maxi Koeck, from Saar, and Nathan Litvin, from Jasra, all aged 11, put on an inspirational show against tough opposition.
The tournament consisted of 32 teams from across the globe including Egypt, Singapore, Kuwait, Croatia and Spain as well as our boys from Bahrain.
In the group stages the team were drawn with Kent, South Wales and North London. All the teams played each other twice in the group stages, with the top two teams progressing to the last 16.
Having won three games, drawing two and losing only one, Bahrain made it to the last 16 as group winners.
In the first knockout stage Bahrain met Surrey and with a great performance and a convincing 6-0 win, the boys sailed through to the quarter-finals.
At this stage the lads met an academy side from Croatia. In a very tough contest the Croatians took the lead early on and proved to be a very strong team. Although Bahrain pressed back Croatia looking for an equaliser their opponents notched a couple of breakaway goals to win 3-0 and knock Bahrain out of the competition.
Croatia went on to be the eventual winners thrashing London Central in the final 5-0.
“It was a great event for the team to attend and they represented the Arsenal Soccer School Bahrain in the best possible way,” said Bahraini international and ASSB coach, Deena Rahman, who attended the event with the school’s director, Paul Shipwright. “The boys should be extremely proud of their achievements and will hopefully have some great memories to hold on to, especially playing on the same pitch that many Arsenal football stars have played on – a special occasion for all of them.”
As well as the tournament itself, the team enjoyed a street and river tour of London on the Duck bus, a Chelsea Stadium Tour and shopping in London.
