Sports | Friday 17 March, 2017 4:37 am |

Carles Puyol, LaLiga legend and former FC Barcelona captain, will be in Dubai on March 18 to mentor the finalist teams in du Football Champions, a partnership with LaLiga, which created the only international scouting platform in the Middle East.

In a face off reminiscent of their Clasico matches, Puyol will be joined by Michel Salgado, former Real Madrid star player. Each will mentor one of the duFC Final teams on Friday 17 March ahead of their final matches on 18 March and will continue to coach them during their final games at Dubai Mall.

Osman Sultan, CEO du, commenting on the news, said, “In a short period of time, du Football Champions, in partnership with LaLiga has taken youth football to new heights, producing pro-footballers for LaLiga teams and attracting the attention of top clubs and teams locally and regionally. Part of the groundbreaking duFC platform is providing gifted players exposure to the world’s best footballers.  We make today the champions of tomorrow.”

Commenting on the news, Fernando Sanz, LaLiga General Director in MENA & Head of International Projects, said: “We are proud that our partnership with du Football Champions has already produced LaLiga worthy talent in the UAE. We look forward to continuing to give top-notch youth footballers the opportunity to experience the best of Spanish football with LaLiga legends, Puyol and Salgado, in addition to other longer-term programs such as the LaLiga HPC, providing scouted talents with the highest-level training year-round. I am looking forward to the mentoring clinic and the Finals at Dubai Mall.”

Puyol will be mentoring the following teams on March 17:

Boys U16 – Mawakeb School Garhoud from Dubai

Boys U14 – British School Al Khubairat from Abu Dhabi

UAE Streets Cup – Al 7osani from Abu Dhabi

UAE Girls Challenge – Go Pro Sports from Dubai  

Salgado will be mentoring the following teams:

Boys U16 - Al Ma’arifa International Private School from Sharjah

Boys U14 – Rashid bin Saeed School from Hatta

UAE Streets Cup – Ultimate XI from Dubai

UAE Girls Challenge – Adastra from Dubai
The top eight finalist teams from Abu Dhabi, Dubai and the Northern Emirates will face off against each other at what will be an unforgettable day of finals at Dubai Mall’s ice rink, on 18th March 2017, with over 10,000 spectators expected on the day.