3-5: Entertaining goal-laden match between Almería U19 and Saudi Future Falcons White
The Rojiblancos look for a response after being down 0-3 at half-time but rue missed chances to tie
It was goals galore at the Juegos Mediterraneos Stadium as Saudi Future Falcons White were buzzing after a 3-5 victory over UD Almeria U19s in the Al Abtal International Cup, a friendly tournament promoted by the Ministry of Sports of Arabia Saudi.
It was a first half full of sparkle for the visitors as they managed to score 3 times with just 15 minutes on the clock. Almeria looked for a response on 25 minutes by making substitutions that changed the run of the game. After the restart, the Indalicos staged a 2-3 comeback, had a chance to draw level, but it was 3-5 at the final whistle.
The promising young Saudi players found the back of the net three times through a double from Yahya and Mohammed. The visiting side’s speed was giving the Rojiblancos a hard time, so coach Miguel Compán decided to make three changes to the UD Almería U19s squad with Pedro, Tomás and Moha entering the game. It was the 25th minute.
Damage done before the interval proved Almeria’s undoing so that Mabika, Rubén, Álex Domingo and keeper Del Águila jumped onto the pitch to make a difference. That is when the team burst into life with an improved performance and a great save at hands of the goalie to avoid the fourth.
With 59 minutes gone, once the homegrown players made their presence known in the shooting third for quite a few minutes, Adri delivered a sensational pass to the back of the defence that team-mate Alex Domingo could not waste. Shortly after making it 1-3, Mabika could have scored, yet the Saudi keeper was sharp enough to avert danger between the sticks. Tomás was in charge of scoring the second for Almeria following a corner-kick (2-3).
From then on, the UD Almería U19s teenagers were too close to equalising, however, with the team focused on attacking, the Saudi Future Falcons boys extended their lead on the scoreboard to 2-5 inside 78 minutes.
Despite everything, the Rojiblancos did not give up and Mabika made the final 3-5 when the game went into stoppage time. Almería U19s exit the first-ever Al Abtal International Cup after an 8-goal thriller. Now it is time for the youth Under-19 ‘A’ players to turn their attention to the Division de Honor Juvenil last match of the first phase of the competition hosting Vázquez Cultural at the Anexo Juegos Mediterraneos on Sunday.
Match facts:
UD Almería U19s: Manu Obón; Iván Ferrer, Mario Mañas, Paco Benítez, Jorge Fernández, Andrei, Abel, Adri, Yepes, Cato and Hugo Neves. Del Águila, Pedro, Rubén, Álex Domingo, Tomás, Mabika and Moha also played.
Saudi Future Falcons 'White': Mhmmed; Salem, Mohammed, Mohammed, Osamah, Nawaf, Ali, Ziyad, Yahya, Hussain, Raghdan. Mutlaq, Sulaiman, Basil, Mutasim, Abdullah and Alrashed also played.
Goals: 0-1, 2:’ Yahya. 0-2, 9:’ Yahya. 0-3, 15’: Mohammed. 1-3, 59’: Alex Domingo. 2-3, 62’: Thomas. 2-4, 74’: Yahya. 2-5, 78’: Sulaiman. 3-5, 93’: Mabika.
Referee: Manuel Cantón Martos from the Almería Referees School. He booked the Jorge Fernández from Almeria U19s as well as visitor Ali.
Observations: Al Abtal International Cup friendly match. Tournament promoted by the Ministry of Sports of Saudi Arabia. The match was played behind closed doors at the Juegos Mediterráneos Stadium in Almeria (Andalusia).