Muscat Grassroots team finish second in Volkswagen Junior Masters Middle East Tournament

Muscat: Muscat Grassroots team settled for second place behind Kuwait Club at the Volkswagen Junior Masters regional football tournament organised at the Etisalat Academy Dubai on March 18 and 19.
Champions Kuwait Club won the right to represent the Middle East at the world championships in Paris later this year. Muscat Grassroots also returned home with the best player trophy won by Qusai Salim Al Jaradi.
Mobarak Aladwani of Kuwait Club was adjudged the best goalkeeper while Go Pro Sports team’s Martin Edwards Prado took home ‘Goal Challenge Winner’.
A toal of 10 qualifying teams from Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Oman, Kuwait and Qatar competed for the top prize.
The Volkswagen Junior World Masters Tournament will take place in Clairefontaine-en-Yvelines, France from May 13 to 16.
Thomas Milz, Managing Director of Volkswagen Middle East, said: “We launched the Junior Masters programme in the Middle East in 2011. To date over 4,000 aspiring footballers have participated and almost 50 young athletes have reached the international bi-annual final in Europe.
“It is inspiring to see football fans from across the region come together through the Volkswagen Junior World Masters championships. This has been another incredibly successful year for the regional heats, with almost 1,000 under-13s participating from across the Middle East.”
“I would like to congratulate the Muscat Grassroots Team on putting up such a stellar performance in Dubai and especially Qusai Salim Al Jaradi on being nominated as the best player. They have truly done the country proud. I would also like to congratulate the regional champions Kuwait Club on their success – we wish them the best of luck at the World Masters final in France!” added Andrew Squires, General Manager, Wattayah Motors.
The Volkswagen Junior Masters competition began in Germany over a decade ago, as part of Volkswagen’s commitment to support youth and sports around the world. This year, the teams participating from the Middle East included Al Jazira (Abu Dhabi), United Sports Academy (Abu Dhabi), FCBESCOLA (Dubai), Spanish Soccer School (Dubai), Go Pro Sports (Dubai), Kuwait Club (Kuwait), Al Jahraa Club (Kuwait), Muscat Grass Roots (Oman), SEK School (Qatar) and Dutch School (Qatar).
Volkswagen Junior Masters Middle East was sponsored by Adidas and GAAST.