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Members of the Arsenal Soccer School Bahrain U11 team are back in training next week having reached the cup final of a major international tournament during the summer holidays.
This feat equalled the performance of the school’s U8s in March who reached the final of the Dubai Super Cup.
The players were part of the group of U11s/ 13s and 16s and Ladies taken by Arsenal Soccer School Bahrain to compete in the UK’s London International Soccer Festival.
The boys started their campaign with a warm-up game against London team Sandgate, which ended scoreless. When the tournament started, they found themselves up against pre-event favourites Brunswick in the opening game. With everybody expecting a tight match, they were in for a shock when the teams shared 12 goals in a 6-6 draw.
Next came the Arsenal Soccer School Devon from the South West of England and they were duly despatched 4-1. An encounter with Slough Central, who had already won two games and drawn with Brunswick, followed. The Bahrain boys knew that they were in for a tough game. Despite being behind, they came through 4-3 victors. Old Parktonians from South Africa followed, and in a much more comfortable encounter, the team won 7-0.
The last group game against the Arsenal Soccer School Dorset, with Bahrain knowing that a draw would be enough to see them through to the final. Nerves were evident, both on the pitch and from the many spectators, and although a late goal was conceded the 1-1 result produced the desired effect.
The final was against first round opponents Brunswick. The Arsenal team representing Bahrain but comprising nationals from five different countries in the 12-man squad, started brightly and took the lead. However, they could not hold on to this and found themselves 2-1 down.
As with the entire tournament though, the team never stopped working and managed to find an equaliser. Straight after this, an effort hit the post and just as it looked like the game would go into a penalty shoot-out, Brunswick snatched the winner to run out 3-2 victors.
Coach Andy Collins said: “The boys were bitterly disappointed and there were some tears at the final whistle! However, I reminded them that they had done very well to reach a final, and to come so close to winning was a great achievement.
“We were the best supported team in the event despite being so far from home, so we would like to thank all the parents, siblings, friends and the other Arsenal Bahrain players who encouraged the boys throughout the week.”
The squad was made up of Jack Bonner, Joshua Lapp, Kareem Bagaeen, Braedon Walsh, Zaid Kanoo, Saad Mohamed, Faris Kashou, Ahmed Al Khalifa, Xander Balet, Salem Hussein, Mohamed Khouri and Hashem Al Sharaf. The squad received their runners-up trophy and individual medals by ex-Fulham and QPR defender Rufus Brevett.
