Mobily Stars team won Arsenal International Tournament Cup after beating London-based club Kentish Town 2-0 in final at the Royal Holloway University Stadium here Sunday. Nawaf Al-Qarni put the Saudi team ahead 15 minutes after the break as he scored from the spot before Khaled Al-Qattam scored the second goal and sealed the win for the only Saudi team in the international tournament which celebrated its 20th anniversary last week. Teams from more than a dozen UK County Associations competed in the competition alongside teams from all over the world including delegations from United States, Canada, Russia, Italy, Greece, South Africa and Bahrain. The tournament was played under the rules of the FA & FIFA. Mobily's under-17 team was comprised of Saudi students who have been selected by a specialized committee after the Mobily School League concluded two months ago. In their final, Mobily Stars took the possession from the beginning and striker Issa Shaheen almost scored an early goal but the English goalkeeper denied Shaheen's attempt. After the break, Shaheen took the ball from outside the box and left two English defender behind before he was brought down inside. Captain Nawaf Al-Qarni took the spot kick and sent the ball into the left side of the Kentish Town's net giving the lead to the Saudi side. The goal forced the hosts to press forward looking for an equalizer but Al-Qattam killed all the English team efforts when he doubled the lead, thanks to a brilliant effort from Shaheen. Paul Shipwright, the tournament organizer and Arsenal's Soccer School Franchise Manager, handed the torment's trophy and the gold medals to Mobily Stars players. With this victory, Mobily Stars team conclude a two-week training camp in the Arsenal Academy which has been selected for the second consecutive time as a summer camp for Mobily School League. Mobily decided to have Arsenal as its summer location camp for its team after different successful experiences with Spanish and Italian academies during the past three years. Barcelona hosted the first camp in 2007, AC Milan in 2008 before Arsenal has been selected for 2009 and 2010. Arsenal Academy has consistently produced footballers ready for first-team action for both Arsenal and other professional football clubs. The Under-18s finished in the top half of the table last season. Through this experience, Mobily aims to build strong generation of Saudi footballers to feed the local clubs and the national team with talented players.
