The Finale of Premier Futsal Season 2 saw the Mumbai Warriors sweep the title with 6-3 against the Ronaldinho-led Delhi Dragons. Tonight saw two of the best teams compete with each other, leaving no stone unturned to win the coveted trophy. It was a battle of Blue vs Red at the Al Wasl Indoor Stadium in Dubai.
The first quarter saw the Mumbai Warriors attack aggressively with back-to-back attempts from Francini and Rico Zulkarnain. A foul by Ismail Hamdaoui of the Delhi Dragons got Mumbai Warriors a freekick, which was smoothly converted to a goal by Tairong.
The second quarter had the Delhi Dragons attempting to shoot goals more aggressively. However, Mumbai had their defence game strong, particularly with an excellent tackle from Rico Zulkarnain who diverted the ball in the nick of time to prevent a goal from the Dragons. The second and third goal for Mumbai came from Lucas Francini who scored a brace in the 11th and 14th minute respectively. The opening goal for the Ronaldinho's team came from Ismail Hamdaoui in the 15th minute. The end of the first half had the Mumbai Warriors lead with 3-1 against the Delhi Dragons.
Ronaldinho scored a total of 16 goals in Season 2 of Premier Futsal, with the last one scored in the 27th minute of the finale match. A freekick was awarded to the Delhi Dragons in the third quarter which was missed by a whisker, costing them a chance to get closer to the Mumbai Warriors. The score at the end of the third quarter was 3-2, with Mumbai leading by a goal.
With 10 minutes left on the clock, both teams put their game face and continued shooting goals one after the other. A timeout was called immediately for some last-minute strategizing. Another freekick for the Delhi Dragons was missed with a double-save from Mumbai's goalkeeper Antonio. Indian player Chanpreet walked into the game in the final quarter and was leading from the front towards the dying minutes of the game.
Francini's hattrick came in the last quarter when he netted the ball in the 36th minute. With less than 4 minutes left, Mumbai was ahead by 2 goals and confident of their win. They were merely passing the ball now to kill time. A quick pass from Francini got Carlos Gonzalves to score in the 38th minute twice, bringing Mumbai's goals to 6. Delhi's Ismail Hamdaoui netted the ball in the same minute but it was too late to close the gap.
The match ended with Giggs' Mumbai Warriors celebrating a victory over Ronaldinho's Delhi Dragons 6-3.
Awards:
Player of the Match – Lucas Francini, Mumbai Warriors
Best Moment of the Match - Antonio, Mumbai Warriors
Best Indian Player of the Tournament – Anupam, Telugu Tigers
Goal of the Tournament – Ryan Giggs, Mumbai Warriors
Golden Gloves (Best Goalkeeper of the Tournament) - Abhishek Ramesh, Bengaluru Royals
Golden Boot (Highest Goal-scorer of the Tournament) – Jonathan da Silva, Bengaluru Royals
Player of the Tournament – Lucas Francini, Mumbai Warriors
