Some of the country’s top young football talents, including eight representatives from Dubai clubs, will be flying to Malaga later this summer to hone their skills as part of du LaLiga High Performance Centre’s Summer Program in Spain.

The Summer Program – part of a new joint initiative between Dubai Sports Council, Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (EITC) and the du LaLiga High Performance Centre – is designed to power the professional development of high-potential talent in the UAE, and at Dubai football clubs in particular.

Du LaLiga HPC’s talent scouts have picked 51 players – 17 each for the Under-7, Under-16 and Under-15 teams – for the 15-day camp in Spain, where they will play three competitive matches against Spanish LaLiga’s top youth clubs and one match against a Spanish academy side during their August 15-31 stay.

The squad for the Summer Program includes a striker and a goalkeeper from each of Dubai four clubs and the selected players are: Rabee Hassan Al Balooshi and Yousef Al Rahma of Al Wasl, Shabab Al Ahli Dubai’s Khalifa Saeed and Musa Abdulla Musa, Saif Al Badawi and Fares Al Badawi of Hatta, and Al Nasr’s Ahmad Al Balooshi and Ali Al Jassemi.

The players are already training at an intensive internal camp, which will run until June 19. They will then go on a break before returning for their flight to Spain on August 15.

Congratulating the Dubai club players and the others picked for the du LaLiga Summer Program, HE Saeed Hareb, Secretary General of Dubai Sports Council, said: “This partnership between Dubai Sports Council and du LaLiga High Performance Center is really exciting because it focuses on the development of top talents from Dubai clubs, which has been one of Dubai Sports Council’s top strategic objectives from the outset.

“Through our partnership with du, a visionary leader, and LaLiga, the strongest league in the world, we will take UAE’s professional football development to the next level.”

Talking about the training camp, Hussein Murad, CEO of Inspiratus – the managing company for du LaLiga HPC, said: “We are very excited to kick off the first leg of training for du LaLiga HPC together with the UAE’s finest national club players in preparation for the du LaLiga Summer Program in Spain. The training will play a key role in strengthening their skills and the Summer Program will help them gain international exposure and experience through playing against the best youth players in LaLiga, the strongest league in the world.

“This is all part of our commitment at du LaLiga HPC to be of service to local UAE clubs and the UAE national team, and to support their efforts in nurturing youth players’ professional mindset and skills to elevate the level of football in the country and prepare them for competitions at the international level, including the World Cup 2022.”

TEAMS

Under-17: Nawaf Al Harthi, Abdullah Abu Bakr, Khaled Al Jabberi, Joshua Hendricks, Mohammed Ali, Hamza Mahsood, Ramzi Fatayeri, Yehya Ibrahim, Yousef Mohammed, Abdelrahman El Sayed, Josue Sanchez, Jean Massini, Mehdi Kemlichi, Isa Adam Asangolu, Rajai Ardakani, Laith Abu Khader, Barbod Mazloumian.

Under-16: Mohammed Ali, Abdullah Al Tamimi, Mubarak Al Seeri, Saif Al Manhai, Rabee Al Balooshi, Yousef Al Rahma, Saif Al Badawi, Fares Al Badawi, Khalifa Saeed, Musa Abdulla Musa, Ahmad Al Balooshi, Ali Al Jassemi, Dillon Rossario, Zahed Al Hajji, Rani Iskandarani, Hussein Hawi, Suood Omar.

Under-15: Abdullah Al Hosani, Khaled Al Hammadi, Khaled Al Hassani, Mulham Samer, Mahmoud Yazan. Jade Sultan, Mohammed Sabri, Omar Azlan, Yiannis Petras, Abdelrahman Al Ameri, Akmal Elmi, David Mayne, Moath Sabri, Ilyas Boumar, Kaan Tosun, Robbie Mcarthur, Ibrahim Al Maliki.