LONDON: For the Saudi students in the UK not even the final examinations could get in the way of their love of football. On Saturday, the Saudi Norwich team defeated their counterparts from Liverpool 3-0 in the final of the Saudi Ambassador in the UK Cup football tournament at Loughborough.
The event is the 28th Annual Football Friendly Tournament that gathers teams of Saudi students from across the major cities in the UK.
In addition to the trophy Norwich was awarded with the gold meals. Second place with the silver medals went to Liverpool, and third with the bronze medals to Coventry.
The first round kicked off in March leading to the final round where the best two teams qualified namely, from the north Liverpool and Edinburgh, and from the south; Norwich and Coventry. Liverpool downed Coventry 1-0 in the first game, but Coventry got back on track and crushed Edinburgh 4-0 in the second game. Norwich, meanwhile, beat Edinburgh 2-1 to advance to the final where they eventually beat Liverpool by three goals.
"It was a tough game to beat the defending champion Colchester in the first round but when we did, we were really motivated to reach the final and win," said Norwich captain Bandar Al-Mutairi, a PhD student in mathematics who had been participating in the league the past three years.
Al-Mutairi said the team got together thrice a week in training which increased in frequency the last few weeks in preparation for the final round. He added the tournament was a huge success, and the support they got from the Saudi Club in Norwich through the league and the fans who came to cheer for them was very helpful.
Though the tournament has been running for 28 years, he said playing against our peers from other Gulf countries he believed would be a great idea and would generate more excitement and enthusiasm.
Liverpool's team captain Ra'afat Muhtasib, PhD student in ultrasound, said the experience itself was enriching and joyful after failing to win the championship crown.
English language student Abdulmohsen Al-Suhayl, Coventry team member, said they missed two penalty kicks and considering that each half is only 15 minutes, that made it hard to recover. "But overall we loved it and since its only our second participation in the league, reaching third place was itself a success and eventually what matters is meeting other Saudis in the UK and exchanging experiences with them.
According to Moutasem Aboonq, activities supervisor at the Saudi Students Clubs & Schools in the UK, the purpose of this event is to allow the Saudi students to get to know each other, tour different cities and participate in competitions in the UK in a fun and loving atmosphere whether in football or in other sports such as table tennis and bowling. The tournament attracted 38 teams consisting of Saudi students representing their city from different parts of the UK and divided into eight groups according to their geographical location. The team who collects the higher points from each group advances to the second round where they play in two groups. The top two teams in these two groups move to the crossover final round.
Each team consist of six players, and six reserves. The game duration was 30 minutes over two halves with five minutes break in between.
