RIYADH: Fans at Cool Arena in Riyadh witnessed sporting drama of the highest order in the quarter-finals of the Kings League MENA Split 1, as Moroccan side Ultra Chmicha and Jordanian teams 3BS and Red Zone emerged victorious to claim their places in the final four of the creator-led, 7-a-side indoor soccer league.
A heart-stopping shootout that went to sudden death gave 3BS, led by team president Absi, victory over defending champions DR7, the Saudi team led by Drb7h, after the match finished 5-5 in regular play.
JMK was the hero for 3BS; the big Frenchman was injured during the shootout but stayed on the field, in obvious discomfort, to pull off a string of saves, including the match-winning stop.
Earlier, DR7 brought on their new co-president, the Saudi national team star Khalid Al-Ghannam, to take the President Penalty. He scored, but in the end it was not enough to keep alive his team’s hopes of reclaiming their title.
In the semi-finals on Friday, 3BS will face Ultra Chmicha, led by Ilyas Elmaliki, who secured a dramatic 7-6 victory over Turbo of Egypt, led by Tarboun. Marc Granero delivered an outstanding performance, scoring three of the first six Ultra Chmicha goals, in the sixth, 22nd and 35th minutes, including a spectacular long-range effort.
The team’s co-president, Yassine Bouguesaa, also made his mark by converting the President Penalty. A red card shown to Turbo midfielder Youssef Elnabarawy in the 17th minute was arguably the most decisive moment in the game, but there were other costly missed opportunities, with Tarboun failing to convert his President Penalty, and the team’s Secret Card shootout opportunity also going unconverted.
In the end, with the score level at 6-6 when Matchball Mode was activated, Ultra Chmicha found the decisive goal they needed to seal the 7-6 win. And once again it was Marc Granero, with his fourth goal of the game, who grabbed the winner that sent his team through to the semi-finals.
Red Zone, led by Maherco, secured their place in the semis with a 5-3 win over RA2 FC of Saudi Arabia, led by Raed. Both teams entered the match with identical records of five wins and four losses in the round-robin league stage.
Gilles Vidal opened the scoring for Red Zone and also added his team’s fifth in Matchball Mode. RA2 will rue their missed chances, including two shootouts and a President Penalty.
Red Zone will face FWZ of Kuwait in the semis, who automatically qualified for the final four after topping the rankings in the league phase.
The action on Monday opened ahead of the quarter-finals with the Creators Match, a special curtain-raiser event organized by Kings League MENA in partnership with TikTok in which two teams featuring some of the biggest creators in the region went head-to-head under Kings League rules.
The teams delighted fans in the arena, and watching on the live stream, with an entertaining joust in which the Kings League MENA All Stars claimed a 3-2 victory.
TikTok’s side was led by Hemex (@hemex_7) and featured prominent creators such as Eslam Bahns (@bahnsplus), Mohammed Dean (@i.wolfm) and Alayyadah (@alayyadah), who scored his team’s President Penalty.
The Kings League MENA All-Stars featured the presidents and co-presidents of competing league teams, including Fwaz (from team FWZ), Absi (3BS), Abu Serwal (Red Zone) and Abdulrahman Al-Shehri (Rising Peaks), who missed a President Penalty. Yassine Bouguesaa, the co-president of Ultra Chmicha, grabbed the glory with a double goal that won the match.
The season concludes on Oct. 30 with the semi-finals and final that will determine the Kings League MENA Split 1 champions.