Sporting smash it

Footballers from Hyderabad have done the city proud. The Hyderabad Sporting FC emerged winners in the Neymar Jr’s Five national tournament and will travel to Brazil to compete in the World finals with a chance to meet international star Neymar Jr.

In the final, Sporting beat Kalina Rangers of Mumbai 3-0 via goals scored by Emad Naser, Zaid Mohiuddin and Salman Alkathery.

Contrary to what the scoreline suggests, the final was keenly contested as the players got down to business right from the opening whistle and raided each other’s territories. After much swing and action, it was the Hyderabad players who put their best foot forward to overcome the final hurdle and win the coveted title.

Spanning across 12 cities, the tournament organised by Red Bull witnessed footballing talent proving their mettle. The qualifiers were divided into two categories, namely Corporate Leg and City Qualifiers, from which — six and 12 teams, respectively, made it to the — final 18.

While the champions beat the intense competition in their respective cities, it was time to showcase their skills before the country in the national finals.

Divided into six groups of three teams, each city champion faced two others in a league format, with one winning team from each group along with two lucky losers (taking into consideration the goal difference) making it to the quarterfinals.

In closely fought contests, Hyderabad Sporting FC defeated Hi-Light (Bangalore) and Kalina Rangers (Mumbai) defeated Barefoot FC (Bangalore) to reach the finals.

Hyderabad Sporting was understandably excited. “The format for Neymar Jr’s Five is a lot of fun and competitive — you lose your game for a minute and bam, you lose a player. Properties such as this motivate Indian footballers like us to work hard and represent our country, which is always a very proud moment. We are looking forward to the trip to Brazil,” they said in a statement.

The inaugural edition of Neymar’s signature football tournament featured more than 65,000 taking part across six continents and 47 countries. This year, teams from around the world have again set out in the hope of making it all the way from the qualifiers to the World Final in July at the Instituto Projeto Neymar Jr in Praia Grande, Brazil.

The tournament organised by Red Bull has a unique, fast-paced format. Neymar Jr’s Five sees two teams of five players, sans a goalkeeper, have 10 minutes to strut their stuff and win a chance to impress Barcelona’s number 11.

The twist in this thrilling affair is that for each goal scored by a team, a member of the opposition will have to leave the field. The team with the maximum players take the spoils.

Speaking about the second edition of Neymar Jr’s Five and looking toward the world finals, international football star Neymar Jr says: “I’m very happy with the second edition of Neymar Jr’s Five gathering crowds from all over the world. The happiness is huge. I hope they can have fun with Neymar Jr’s Five.”