Mini World Cup stage set

Teams in action during the Mini World Cup. — Supplied photo

With one World Cup in full swing in Brazil, another is set to reach its climax this weekend with the Junior Mini World Cup at Dubai Sports City in its final stages.

Saturday will see 28 matches take place across five age groups, from under-six to under-14, starting at 9am, with the silverware at stake in each section.

The teams, from clubs across Dubai as well as Dubai Sports City’s own Spanish Soccer Schools (SSS), are all taking part in the tournament under the guise of sides that are contesting the action in the FIFA event, as well as the UAE.

And after the opening weekend that saw the under-six, under-eight and under-10 teams do battle, last Saturday was all about the under-12 and under-14 sides – and they did not disappoint.

Six teams played in the under-12 category with the top four qualifying for the semi-finals and the SSS Casillas line-up won the group stage with a near-perfect record of four wins from five matches and just one goal conceded, in a 3-1 win against the Desert Rangers side, playing as Brazil. The two points the SSS Casillas side dropped came courtesy of a 0-0 draw with Go Pro, taking part as Portugal, in what was, despite the lack of goals, one of the matches of the tournament so far.

Go Pro finished second in the group, and served notice of its desire to win the title this Saturday with a ruthless 10-0 demolition of GC United, playing as Holland. The other sides to reach the business end of proceedings in this age group were the Desert Rangers, playing as Brazil, and the SSS Xavi side.