Hamed Al Merri scored the match winner in the 19^th minute in the opening fixture in Group A, according to information received here.

Later, under floodlights, Spanish side Espanyol too scored a 1-0 win over African Stars, a team consisting of players from Africa and the Asian regions. Gabriel Lopez slammed home the winner in the very eighth minute of play.

The opening match was attended by Khalfan Al Rumaithi, the UAE Football Association President.

The Al Ain International Football Championship has Under-17 teams of famous clubs like Spanish sides Espanyol, Valencia, French club Olympique Marseille, Egypt’s Al Ahli, Morocco’s Raja Casablanca and African Stars, the UAE National team and hosts Al Ain in action. The tournament  runs till 25^th.

The eight teams have been divided into two groups—Group A and Group B. Group A consists of African Stars, Espanyol, Raja Casablanca and Al Ain, while Group B consists of the UAE Under-17 National team, Al Ahli, Olympique Marseille and Valencia.

The format of the championship is Round Robin League and the 22 matches are being held at the Al Qattara Stadium. This is an annual event and it is into its second year.

The winners will take home $20,000 apart from the gold medal and the winners’ cup. The runners-up will get $15,000 and silver medals. The third-placed team will receive $10,000 and the bronze.

Apart from this, there are individual prizes as well for Best Player for each match, Best Scorer, Best Goalkeeper, Best Player of the Championship and Ideal Team. The Best Player for each match will get Dh 1000, Best Scorer will get Dh 5000, the Best Goalkeeper will receive Dh 5000 and the Best Player of the Championship will get Dh 5000. The Ideal Team will be richer by Dh 12,500.

Senegal were the winners of the inaugural edition of the championship while, hosts Al Ain finished runners-up. The UAE National team had finished fourth.