Minerva Academy Football Club from Mohali emerged as the champions in the boys’ U-12 category and became the first Indian club to win the Mena Cup in Dubai as they scored a 4-0 win over La Liga HPC in the Mena Cup final held in Dubai on Monday night. Minerva Academy opened the scoring in the 13th minute in the final. A throw-in down the left led to a bit of a scramble in the box, but the quickest to react was Thiyam, who fired the ball into the back of the net to make it 1-0. Thiyam was indeed unstoppable as he scored in the very next minute again to extend the lead of Minerva Academy to two goals. Thiyam then completed his hat-trick in the match as he scored his third goal of the match in the 28th minute. The ball fell for him just outside the box, and he put his foot through it first time to find the bottom corner. Minerva Academy FC’s fourth goal of the evening came in the stoppage time as Jayed scored from a tap-in to make it 4-0 for the Mohali side. Earlier, Minerva Academy had topped their group with nine points and then faced Dubai City Football Club in the semi-final. The team scored a 3-0 win over Dubai City Football Club to march into the final. Thiyam scored a hat-trick in the semi-final. Thiyam was adjudged as the player of the tournament. Earlier in the tournament, Minerva Academy had scored a 5-0 win over Barcelona FC Academy.
