West Ham United U17s were held to a goalless draw by host club Al Ain FC in their final group game of the Hazza bin Zayed International Football Tournament in Abu Dhabi.
After triumphing 1-0 in their opener against Japanese side Kashiwa Reysol, the young Hammers played a real game of two halves against Spanish outfit Espanyol in their second fixture, going down 3-1.
Idris Kanu was on target against Reysol, while Jahmal Hector-Ingram scored against Espanyol, but West Ham could not find a way through against Al Ain, denying them a place in the final or third/fourth-place match.
On Saturday, Assistant Academy Manager James Rowe, his staff and the squad attended the tournament's gala dinner, where former Hammer Frederic Kanoute, who now runs an Academy in nearby Dubai, was the guest of honour.
West Ham's Korrey Henry asked Kanoute about how young players should adjust to life in the Premier League, with Kanoute also giving kind words about his time at the Boleyn Ground.
The two group winners will contest the final on Monday, with West Ham returning to England on Tuesday to prepare for the Barclays U18 Premier League Tier 2 Play-Off trip to Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday 11 April (12noon).
The U17s visited the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi
Waleed Al Hosani, Member of the Organising Committee, said: “All teams have various strengths that they bring with them to Al Ain, which we anticipate, will be beneficial to the tournament as a whole.”
Alongside the Hazza bin Zayed International Football Tournament, a festival of football is being hosted by the UAE’s most successful club, Al Ain FC, including an amateur competition for local clubs and a coaches’ clinic hosted by renowned Dutch coach Raymond Verheijen.
Known locally as Al Zaeem (‘The Boss’), Al Ain have won the Arabian Gulf League trophy eleven times, the H.H. The President’s Cup trophy six times, the UAE FA Cup on three occasions and the Arabian Gulf Cup. Al Ain FC is the only Emirati club to have won the AFC Champions League, doing so in 2003.
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