It was the incessant cheering that brought the smile to your face. The seemingly unlimited, unadulterated passion expressed by the kids through their vociferous support was the hallmark of the Jeem Cup 2016 final which was held yesterday at the Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium. And what made it even more pure was that the kids who were doing the cheering were the ones who had been defeated by the two teams playing out in the middle.

Universal School players, who represented Comoros in the tournament, finished runners-up.

The Jeem Cup is a tournament for kids aged 10 and 11 from schools across the Arab region. It began in 2015. This was the second edition, which saw 14 schools taking part. It’s an 8-a-side affair with each half played for 20 minutes. For 2016, the teams were divided into four groups and one team each qualified for the semi-finals. Yesterday’s final was between Sudan, represented by Mohamed Abdalla Musa School and Comoros represented by Universal School.

QFA president Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmed al-Thani and Qatar Olympic Committee secretary general Dr Thani al-Kuwari catch the Jeem Cup final.

Comoros (a tiny speck on the Indian Ocean) almost pulled off a mighty upset over Sudan who in terms of sheer land mass are 1,000 times bigger. Comoros were leading by two goals for all but the last two minutes of the match when the Sudan kids scored two goals in two minutes to take the match into penalties. The penalty shootout was an equally dramatic affair. Both teams missed their first chance. Then neither team missed for the next three attempts. But after Sudan scored their fourth goal, Comoros ended up hitting the post and missing. Sudan were the winners and such was the excitement that the kids started running in random directions. The coach himself was seen running to get hold of the match ball. The kids finally converged in front of their fans – there was a tremendous support for Sudan in the stadium yesterday. Even the kids from other countries were cheering loudly for Sudan.  
The Comoros kids couldn’t believe the dramatic reversal and collapsed on the ground in tears, just as they had done when Sudan had equalised in the last-minute of the game. Their coach was seen consoling them. They had almost pulled off a miracle only to have it cruelly snatched away from them. But they can still take heart from the fact that among the other big nations, they had managed to finish an admirable second, and were seconds away from winning it all. The Universal School will take home QAR150,000 for their second-place finish. Sudan’s Mohamed Abdalla Musa School will get QAR200,000 as prize money. UAE won third place after they defeated Kuwait and will be taking home QAR100,000. This huge prize money comes with a condition that it can only be spent by the winning schools on developing sport. And the Qatar Olympic Committee is in constant touch with the schools and the governments to ensure that this condition is fulfilled.  
It was a dramatic finish to a tournament that is becoming a great avenue for Arab schools to showcase their footballing potential. This tournament has the Supreme Committee of Delivery and Legacy as their platinum sponsor. This time there were 14 countries that took part. These countries have an internal tournament which takes place among their eight best schools. And the winner of that gets to come to Qatar for the Jeem Cup. Last year the tournament was won by Tunisia who defeated Jordan in the final. In third place was Bahrain.
The Jeem Cup is a great initiative and the crowded Lekhwiya stadium with its electric atmosphere yesterday can only bode well for the sport in Qatar. The kids who were screaming their support all the way will go home a happy bunch, considering ‘their’ team won. 3, 2, 1 – Sudan No. 1!
 

Awards
Best Player: Ali Abdul Kader from UAE
Top Scorer: Kaab al Motee’ from Comoros (11 goals)
Best goalkeeper: Hosny AlShamkheya from Tunisia