The 12 last teams standing, that spilt blood and sweat, for 8 weeks and 16 games will be listed at the end of this post. Yes, the NikeFive preliminaries are over, and from 70 teams the best of the best have survived and advanced to Champions Day.

They fought brave opponents and crippling injuries, they showed character, presence of mind, team spirit and most of all perseverance, that never say die attitude that truly defines the great. All of this to qualify for that one day of reckoning, the day every team will bow before them and crown them Champions of NikeFive.

D-Day is Saturday May 30th, Raffles South/North, 10am – 1:30 pm – mark your calendars.

The playoffs are a different experience altogether, the buzz, the heightened senses, everyone knows what’s at stake, won’t let the 8 weeks go in vain, won’t go out without a fight. All the teams come early with their group of supporters, some come early to warm up, some to fight the nerves and some are there to gauge the competition. The atmosphere is electric, as soon as the whistle blows and the ball is touched, it is nothing but drama for the next 24 minutes, enough to rival a world cup final, and the best part is still to come.

The playoff format required each team to play to 2 24-minute legs against the same opponent, the winner decided based on the most aggregate goals. Here are some excerpts from the playoff games on Wednesday and Saturday.

Showtime FC vs Bacalao Bacalao

It was a battle between the Spaniards and best cable service providers in Dubai? Haha [orbit would beg to differ].. From the outset this game was a battle of the goal keepers. Alaa of Showtime FC and Josep Gambau of Bacalao. Both these keepers have been outstanding and have been leaders on the pitch as their players battled it out. The score after the first leg was 1-1, both goal keepers resolute and strong. In the second leg, Bacalao finally succumbed, owing to some clinical finishing from the Showtime strikers, not taking anything away from Josep, the two goals that went in could not have been stopped by even the likes of Van Der Sar. Winner: Showtime

ACWA vs Dubai Financial Market

The most entertaining match by a mile, it was basically a contest between team ACWA and a particular player from DFM I like to call the little green fairy [LGF], owing to his diminutive size, lightning pace and lime-green coloured rubber soled shoes, that could probably be seen from Sharjah. The first leg started off with ACWA going down two goal thanks to some lightning paced dribbling from the LGF, it was truly mesmerizing, one second the ball is at his feet the next second its in the goal. Any other team would buckle under such pressure, but kudos to acwa they stuck to their guns, equalized and took a three goal lead, at half time the score was 6-3. The second half was even more action packed, acwa scores one, dfm equalizes, acwa scores another dfm equalizes. The difference was that dfm relied on pace which finally lead to exhaustion and ACWA relied on passing and finishing, and I cant finish this post without mentioning ACWA’s captain, Mazin, for excellent, excellent finishing and leading his team when they fell behind initially.

Faris Abu Mayaleh vs Dream Team

A contest between the first placed team and the sixth placed team, in my mind Faris looked set to roll over the dream, but I was pleasantly surprised. The boys from Dream Team gave Faris quiet a run for their money the first half ended 4-2, enough for Dream Team to rally back and pull off an upset in the second half. But like true champions, you stick to your guns, keep you head down, pass the ball and finish, that’s exactly what Faris did and they triumphed 3-1 in the second leg.

Unknown vs Pink Panther

At first glance the pink panther outfit would look like kids from high school, but it just so happens that most of the players were young guns still in school. They actually made it all the way to the playoffs. Unknown were the group leaders from Saturday. From the get go the game was extremely physical, pushes, shoves, slide tackles. What surprised me most was that the pink panthers kept up with their adult counterparts, if not in goals, then in effort. After the first half the score was 2-0. In the second half, the pink panthers came back to score one goal and it was amazing to see the jubilation on the faces of the kids, as they sensed a potential equalizer. Alas, Pink Panther’s inexperience gave way to two more goals and the game ended 4-1 for the Unknown.

Boys and Girls, to say the Champions Day is going to be action packed and full of surprises is saying the least, come watch these warriors battle it out, no holds barred, this Saturday May 30th. As I promised, the esteemed list:

North Campus – Group A
Players Club
Dragon Flying
Big Sky Wings
Faris Abu Mayaleh
Showtime FC
Unknown

South Campus – Group B
Desert Chill United
Ahdaaf
FIFA
Zinkeiros
ACWA
Lambo

Do you have children that need to stay active (and occupied) over the summer? Look no further than www.esportsdubai.com. They run some good 9 weeks summer camps for kids. Click on link or images below for full details. www.esportsdubai.com

www.esportsdubai.com

Are you a referee and looking for some additional ways to make some money, and get yelled at? Immediately, we are looking for qualified referees in both Dubai & Abu Dhabi for:

• football (soccer)
• touch rugby
• basketball
• netball
• and more…

Are you passionate about a sport and want the chance to meet others who share your passion?  Be a league admin and get paid for it.

Apply  Here

DUPLAYS first league to launch in Abu Dhabi did so with a flourish of spinning runs, slashing cuts, interceptions, and touch downs.  Six teams laced up their cleats and enjoyed recreational flag football action.  Here are a few photos from the opener.

From American Flag Football

From American Flag Football

From American Flag Football

From American Flag Football

One team needs several more individual players, so if you want in on the action it’s not too late, sign up online here: http://duplays.com/flag-football/?loc=AbuDhabi

Hey football fans, this week NikeFive witnessed some pretty heavy weight encounters, with the top seeds facing off against each other 2 weeks before the playoffs and championship day, dress rehearsal for the final you say? That just might be true, lets see how the big boys fared. Also, a round up of the past week’s UEFA Champions league matches

We have concluded Week 5 here at NikeFive and I can’t help but get excited about the playoffs, which start in 2 weeks. Do you hear that boys? You have 4 games left, 4 games till the real games begin, 4 games to separate the boys from the men. As an administrator, I feel the real joy is in watching teams come together and finding their winning formula, I’m not talking about the Zinks or the Adhaafs I’m talking about the mid table teams, who may not have started off as spectacularly or may not have achieved immediate success. These boys have come in week after week, determined to improve, pushing each others limits, supporting each other, consoling each other. Everyone loves an under-dog story, and we have plenty of such tales at DUPLAYS.

One such team, who are now playoff contenders, after 2 victories this past week, are Team Hilti, from Matchday Tuesday. This ethnic cocktail of Greek, Indian, Arabic and Iranian boys, who should probably consider starting a restaurant together, are the most cohesive, sporting and encouraging bunch I have seen all tournament. They’ve experienced defeat, but they chose to fight on, and after 5 weeks they are in the top 4 to qualify for the playoffs and I truly hope they achieve that milestone.

It doesn’t get any bigger than Adhaaf FC here at DUPLAYS, their unbeaten run now stretches to 10 straight games, will the emarati boys be crowned the Kings of NikeFive? Only the playoffs will tell.

Big Sky Wings vs Royal Crew

Both these teams were leading the Tuesday tables with 21 points – 7 wins and 1 loss. BSW’s main strike force were Ozkan, Rafael and Thiago and RC’s were Hossam, Craig and Tony. What one would imagine to be a close fight between equally gifted opponents quickly turned into a one sided affair. The Royal Crew could not contain Rafaels offensive runs into their goal, he was duly supported by Thiago as they both comdined for 3 goals. BSW set the pace of the game and won 3-0 and now stand at the head of the table with 27 points.

Barca Suffer the Blues

If you’re a fan of free flowing football, brilliant technique and spanish wizardry that is FC Barcelona, then I hope you weren’t tuned in this Tuesday for the Barca Chelsea bout. It was everything you would expect a big semi-final not to be – an exercise in defensive play. As a journalist rightly said, not only did Chelsea park the team bus in front of their goal, but also the plane that flew them to Barcelona. Hiddink’s boy’s did everything in their power to stop Barcelona from playing their natural game, there were dives, fouls, exchange of heated words, play-acting everything but an attempt at achieving a result. Statistics showed that Barcelona had the lion’s share of the possession and shots on goal.

What really got to me was how the media responded to the goalless draw, they were heaping praise on Chelsea for stunting Barca’s game, preventing them from scoring in the Nou Camp for the first time this season. How is that a compliment? Nobody is talking about how Chelsea failed to take advantage of scoring a vital away goal. How long can Chelsea defend? The return leg is in Stamford Bridge this Wednesday, as far as I’m concerned, Chelsea just lived to die another day.

United they stand

In the other fixture, the red devils stamped their authority all over their semi-final encounter with the gunners. Thanks to cool finishing by John O Shea, united return to the Emirates Stadium, this Tuesday, with a slender one goal advantage.