Neymar's Men

Soccer-Loving Bahrainis are all set to fly out to Brazil to represent the kingdom in a fast-flowing football fiesta for the chance to meet legendary Barcelona star Neymar.

Team Deeb Alainawy, otherwise known as ‘the Wolves of Alainawy’ named after their charismatic coach Isa, won a nail-biting penalty shootout in the national final of the Neymar Jr’s Five tournament to take the prize.

The proud wolf pack squad, namely Yousif Ahmed, 23, Ammar Hassan, 22, Mohammed Althawadi, 21, Nasser Alisa, 20, Ali Abdulkareem, 24, Adel Abbas, 22, and Mohammed Jassim, 23, are still buzzing from the victory and will be jetting off on their footballing adventure on July 5.

Coach Alainawy, 25, from Muharraq, who works for the Ministry of Interior General Directorate of Traffic, said: “The team can’t stop thinking or talking about the win and they truly deserve it. “They have all worked so hard. We have been playing together for more than three years and were waiting for this tournament to kick-off in Bahrain. We were following the global competition and couldn’t wait for it to be on our doorstep. We won because we are a family that plays with one heart and stayed strong until the end.

“Words cannot express how happy we are. This is unbelievable and a dream come true! I will not be going but I wish them all the best!” Sixteen of the island’s best squads, made up of five-toseven players aged between 16 and 25, competed in the national final after qualifying  from heats staged at A’ali, Sitra, Juffair, Isa Town and Muharraq.

Unlike in regular tournaments, the 10-minute matches do not feature goalkeepers and each time a player scores, a player from the opposing team is eliminated. If it ends in a draw, then the two teams head straight to a shootout with two players going one on-one for three seconds. After competing against scores of teams, the soccermad squad took on the Hidd boys in the five-a-side final held at Al Nujoom football club in Gudaibiya. 

Things were looking up for the Wolves when striker Ahmed, who works at the General Directorate of Traffic, notched the opener. Just when they thought the prize trip was theirs, Hidd hit back with a goal in the last 10 seconds leaving the teams to do-or-die face-off.

The shootout ended with Hassan scoring the winner to seal the deal and the dream trip. Now the Wolves will compete against top sides from more than 35 nations at the World Finals next month in Praia Grande, Brazil, where Neymar grew up, started his footballing career and later founded an educational institution. Opened in 2014, the Instituto Projeto Neymar Jr is the second ‘FutbolNet’ programme in Brazil, in partnership with FC Barcelona Foundation, which offers extracurricular educational and sporting activities to the most socially-disadvantaged children and families. 

The victors of the World Final will also win a trip to the Spanish city of Barcelona, accompanied by the former South American Footballer of the Year, Neymar Jr., to watch his club side play, as well as be his invited guests on a tour of the famous Camp Nou.

Stadium, the home of the legendary league champions since 1957.

Alainawy and the team are currently playing in tournaments in Saar, Isa Town and Muharraq in preparation for their big Brazilian debut. He said: “Just wait and see. Soon everyone in the world will know who the Alainawy Wolves are! After winning at least eight tournaments in Bahrain, I can confidently say that we are ‘the best’ and just wait till we reach Brazil.

We are going to surprise everyone!”