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Three cheers for the Arsenal Soccer School Bahrain Team for clinching the plate knockout competition at the 19th Arsenal International Soccer Festival (AISF) in London.
Over 150 teams from all over the world took part in the yearly event held on the award winning fields of Royal Holloway University in picturesque Surrey, 40 minutes from London.
For the 17 young 'Gunners' of the Bahrain Arsenal Youth team, this was a first time experience to travel abroad and play against teams from various countries such as Canada, Europe and the US.
The team arrived in London on July 25 to participate in the exciting festival accompanied by A Hameed Kooheji, director of the school, Neil Harvey, director of coaching, and Ahmed Ashoor the team co-ordinator.
The festival was played under Football Association (FA) and FŽdŽration Internationale de Football Association FIFA rules and every game was refereed by three officials.
With the exception of unforeseen circumstances, all teams entering the festival were guaranteed four games and all matches lasted for one hour. The teams were divided into different age groups followed by a cup and plate knockout competition.
Neil Harvey's 'red and whites' were in Group B in the under 16 category. They defeated the Arsenal Soccer School Greece in the semi-finals 6-1 and Brunswick on August 2 in the final with a 3-1 win.
Midfielder Abdulrahman 'Eto'o' Abdulla said: "The feeling of wining the plate is great. The team was playing well in terms of discipline and the weather was perfect.
"I would like to thank the team co-ordinator and the director for doing such a great a job,
"The coach has been a great influence on the team and I dedicate this win to the people of Bahrain."
Team mate Abdulrahman Basher said: "This was a great trip and so was the whole organisation.
"The team was playing well thanks to the coach's directions and training sessions. Coach Neil has been good for us and we have been blessed to have him in Bahrain.
"We have learned a lot in three weeks and hopefully we can win the cup next year.
"I want to congratulate the team on such a great performance and we will build on this success and work harder for the future."
Paul Shipwright, business development manager for Arsenal Soccer Schools, said: "The Bahrain team surprised us with their technical ability.
"It's their first experience travelling overseas to play against other countries and they represented their kingdom and Arsenal Soccer School absolutely fantastically both in terms of how they interacted with everyone and how they play the game."
