Boys U11 PSL Futsal Tournament
On Monday afternoon, 15 of our U11 boys represented Nadeen School in the final PSL tournament of the academic year in a Futsal competition at Bayan School. Following the conclusion of the Futsal block in PE and with a specific training session in the bank, the boys were excited and focused on the bus as we made the journey from Um Al Hassam to Isa Town.
Our 2 teams, Nadeen Green & Nadeen White, were drawn in separate groups, alongside a number of different teams from other private schools on the island.
Nadeen Green – Yousif Al Helaibi (6PB), Harry Shearwood (6GA), Jason Gutzmann (5KT), Arthur Elson (5KT), Ali Sabaa (6GA), Elya Maki (5BM), Zile Chen (5KT)
Nadeen White – Claudio Marucci (5KT), Aiden Nieuwenhuijsen (5BM), Jano Cronje (6GA), Saif Al-Shakarchi (5BM), Nasser Junaid (5BM), Ahmed Hamza (4SD), Leo Koskinen (4HS), Yusuf Al-Amer (5BM)
Nadeen White started the tournament with a confidence boosting performance, despite slipping to defeat. Meanwhile, Nadeen Green also opened the tournament with a defeat, despite dominating large parts of the game. Mr Matt & Mr Kyle rallied their troops going into the second round of fixtures. In their second game, Nadeen Green again dominated proceedings however couldn’t capitalise on this domination and picked up their point of the tournament with a 0-0. Over on Court 2, Nadeen White produced an excellent defensive performance against one of the pre-tournament favourites, however just fell short as they fell to their second defeat, despite an excellent penalty from Saif (5BM).
“Across the 2 teams, we had a number of boys who will be eligible to play in this tournament again next year. This was a fantastic opportunity for the boys to experience the level and intensity of these tournaments and we are looking forward to seeing how they can perform next year”
– Mr Matt
“I think we played really well as a team. All the players tried their best and it was really good fun.”
– Saif (5BM)
“The teamwork, dedication and tenacity of every player was fantastic. I’m very proud of the way the boys fought in every game and showed excellent sportsmanship throughout”
– Mr Kyle
Keen to keep the boys spirits high, both team talks focussed on the positives and the resilience the boys will have to show as they move onto their 3rd game. Nadeen Green produced a lung-busting display, however, similar to the previous 2 games, the ball just wouldn’t go in the net. Nadeen White also fell to defeat, despite hitting the post and missing a number of chances. Onto game 4, Nadeen White demonstrated a superb will to win and bounced back with a resounding 3-0 victory. Dominating from the off and implementing Mr Matt’s high press tactic, Ahmed (4SD) grabbed a brace and birthday boy Yusuf (5BM) smashed the ball into the far corner to collect Nadeen’s first win of the tournament. Nadeen Green produced some wonderful passing and moving leading to a goal from captain Yousif (6PB), however a couple of lapses in concentration, meant the boys fell to a 2-1 defeat.
In their final fixture of the tournament, Nadeen White once again adopted a high-press tactic and produced another scintillating attacking performance. A goal a piece from Leo (4SD) & Saif (5BM), brought home another 3 points for the Whites. Nadeen Green, now playing for pride, finished the tournament with two resilient performances that culminated in two last minute losses.
All in all, every single player that represented the Nadeen teams, played with their heart on their sleeve and at times produced some fantastic football. 15 Boys that the whole school should be extremely proud of!
“I think we have a really good chance of doing really well next year. We showed fantastic effort and were unlucky not to make it out of the group”
– Yousif (6PB)