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DDF retain Dulsco Soccer 7s title

Dubai Duty Free defeated Burj Team (Armani Hotel) in a trilling tie-breaker 5-4 in the final.

Dubai

Dubai Duty Free team with their winning trophy

Duty Free (DDF), the reigning champions, strengthened their foothold by winning the Dulsco Soccer 7s tournament for the second time in a row. DDF defeated Burj Team (Armani Hotel) in a trilling tie-breaker 5-4 in the final. The event was organised and hosted by Dulsco Events Arena.

The finals of the Dulsco Soccer 7’s 2014 turned out to be an interesting encounter, with two of the best teams of the tournament vying for the title. After a barren first-half, the second-half saw some aggressive play from both sides as they kept coming close to scoring regularly but once again brilliant goal keeping from both the sides ensured the ball didn’t go past the post. At the final whistle the scores read 0-0 which for the second time in the day made sure the results were to be decided by penalties.

DDF, having just entered the final by penalties in their semi final match, were having the upper hand over their opponents. DDF held their nerve and netted all five goals as Burj missed one chance of scoring which resulted in them handing over the title to DDF.

Earlier in the day, during the first semi finals, DDF took on the other favourites Emrill in a thrilling match. DDF were the first to score. Team Emrill came back strong with the help of some amazing passes and scored the equaliser in the first-half.

The second-half started with some aggressive display from both the teams in this all important encounter. Emrill defended brilliantly and pushed DDF on the back foot in the opening minutes of the second-half.

DDF sneaked in their second goal of the match and took the lead in the semi final encounter. Emrill not to be left behind equalised with a scorcher of a goal. Desperate attempts from both the teams were in vain as the high octane match ended in a draw. The winner of the match was now left to be decided by penalties.

Both the teams made sure that they did not miss the chance to net all 5 goals. DDF held their nerve to net the final goal and Emrill spraying one past the post costing them a place in the final. DDF with this win made it to the final for second time in the row.

The second semi final was equally interesting as the Burj Team (Armani Hotels) took on ‘Group A’ leaders MBC. It was an evenly contested match as the first half failed to produce any goals with both the teams guarding their territories well. The second half saw a lone goal coming from Team Burj due to some coordination from the forwards. MBC tried to come back into the game and fired some brilliant shots at the net but each time their attempts were thwarted by the brilliant goal keeper of team Burj. In the end the Burj Team managed to maintain the one goal lead and earned themselves a place in the final of the Dulsco soccer 7’s 2014.

“We are delighted to have brought together a great set of enthusiastic teams, their management and the encouraging audience. We would like to congratulate all the teams for putting up a fabulous show and ensuring that the tournament had an interesting finish,” said Prakash Parab, Director, HR Solutions, Dulsco.