First National Service Cup concludes

Orange team bounced back twice to beat Yellow 3-2 in the extra-time to win the inaugural National Service Cup organised by Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy and supported by the Qatar Football Association. Played at the Hamad Mechanised Battalion Indoor Hall in Al Shamal, the match produced plenty of thrills as both teams fought with all their might in  bid to upstage each other.After both the sides were tied 2-2, they played a 10-minute overtime to decide the winners.In the closing seconds of the first half of extra-time, defender Khalid Issa scored off a goalmouth melee beating Yellow goal-keeper Mohammed Jassim to seal the match. “I’m happy that I was able to score the winning goal for my team,” said Issa. “It was a great team effort. I want to congratulate all my teammates for this fine victory in the final.” SC Secretary-General Hassan al-Thawadi and QFA Secretary-General Mansour al-Ansari were the guests of honour and presented the trophies and awards. Yellow team’s Ibrahim Ismail al-Shams was adjudged the Best Player of the Tournament.Al-Thawadi was happy with the enthusiasm of the teams and their supporters.“The National Services Cup is one of the very important initiatives for us. We engaged them as they cover various levels within the Qatari society. This will enable us to work with the international services in future,” he said.“I’m extremely pleased with the response for the National Services Cup. The spirit of the teams during the tournament has been absolutely fantastic.” He also said the SC has involved the National Services in other initiatives as well. “In addition to the football cup, we have other initiatives on which we’re already working with them. They are like giving lectures on the World Cup, our position behind the World Cup and how to interact with them. I must say that all these initiatives have been quite successful so far,” added Thawadi.   Qatar Football Association Secretary General Mansour al-Ansari commented: “We want to thank the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy and National Services authorities for organising this event. We, as the QFA, fully support CSR initiatives like this. “Our aim is to provide opportunities to all, be it to professional players or just a sport lover. We’re very happy with this effort and will continue to back such drives to popularise the game more in Qatar.”