Players in action during their Dubai Sports Council Football Academies Championship match.

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

El Talento Football Academy have leapfrogged La Liga HPC and grabbed pole position in the Under-18 division following another emphatic win in Week 3 of the Dubai Sports Council (DSC) Football Academies Championship.

Based in Dubai Silicon Oasis Park, El Talento have also moved to the top in Group 2 of the Under-16 division with a tight 2-1 win over Week 2 leaders Soccer Italian Style A.

In the Under-18 division, El Talento, who had started their campaign with 12-0 triumph over Excellence Football Academy, scored another dozen against Soccer Italian Style to take top spot. They are level on 6 points with La Liga HPC, but boast of a goal difference of 24 compared to their rival’s 7.

La Liga HPC have taken sole position of the top spot following their third win from three matches – a comprehensive 12-0 victory over Al Najma Al Zarqaa FC in Group 1 of the U-16 division.

Sporting Dubai are also undefeated after three matches and are sitting at the top of Group 1 in the Under-14 division following their latest win – a comfortable 5-1 over Golden Star Academy. Alliance and AFA Pablo Aimar are level on seven points, but Alliance boast a better goal difference of 14 to 12 in Group 2 of the Under-14 division.

In the two Under-12 groups, GC United are at the top of Group 1 with 9 points from three games following their 4-1 win over the Foxes, while Its Just Football are leading the other group with the same number of points following a 4-2 win over Golden Star Academy.

The premier age-group football tournament in the country, Dubai Sports Council Football Academies Championship will top a busy and diverse calendar of DSC’s events for the coming months.

The tournament features 52 teams and more than 850 of the best young talents from 18 academies, who will be competing in six different categories: Under-8, Under-10, Under-12, Under-14, Under-16, Under-18.

A total of 280 matches will be played in the tournament, across 15 weekends until March 6, 2021, at The Football Centre DSC, which opened its doors last month and is the new home of La Liga Academy and La Liga High Performance Centre (HPC).

Meanwhile, later in spring next year, DSC and La Liga will partner once again for the inaugural La Liga U-14 International Cup, a tournament that will also be held at The Football Centre DSC and feature six teams from top La Liga clubs, including Barcelona and Real Madrid, six teams from the UAE and six other teams from across the region and the globe.

The partnership between DSC and La Liga will also see two players – a goalkeeper and a striker - from each of the four Dubai clubs - Al Nasr, Al Wasl, Shabab Al Ahli and Hatta - join the du La Liga HPC summer programme in Spain, where they will raise their level of play in competitive matches against the best La Liga youth clubs.

This long-term partnership between DSC and La Liga also seeks to empower Emirati coaches and national club management teams through professional development training workshops and seminars in the fields of administration, finance, marketing and law.

Annually, 20 members from the executive management of Dubai’s football companies will benefit from these programmes.