Arsenal versus Ipswich Town Elite and Liverpool versus Reading Royals on pitches A and B respectively kicked off proceedings in the 2008 Premiership In… Portugal .

The tournament got off to a flyer when, after only a matter of seconds, the first goal flew in on pitch B. Neil Viney, on his stag weekend, scored the opening goal of the tournament to put his Liverpool side 1-0 up against Reading . Whilst we do not have official timings from Seiko or Accurist we can confidently say this is the fastest ever opening goal in a eurofootballfives.com tournament.

It could not have been a worse start for Reading in this competition but they fought back well and grabbed a late equaliser through Andrew Marley to earn themselves a point as the game finished 1-1. Both teams earning a point and were off and running in the competition.

On Pitch A goals were harder to come by as a defensive-minded Arsenal side held firm at the back against Ipswich Town Elite. Ipswich Town Elite generally had the better of the game although in the final stages both teams could have won it. Zoran Orlic of Arsenal missed a sharp chance on the turn with his left foot from just 6 yards out whilst moments later Carl Sharman broke through the Arsenal defence, beating two men before hitting the outside of the post. The game ended 0-0 with Alex Price and Andrew Senior, the respective keepers coming out on top and earning themselves a clean sheet.

Following this game on Pitch A saw Aston Villa and Tottenham kick off their campaigns. Aston Villa were quickly into their stride and took no time at all in racing to a two goal lead. Nabeel Shabir was the scorer on both occasions as Villa were 2-0 up in a matter of minutes. Spurs regrouped and whilst Aston Villa continued to dominate the game there was no further scoring and 2-0 was indeed the final score. Aston Villa picking up the first 3 points of the tournament to top the table after Round 1.

The second game on Pitch B saw the two Portuguese sides, Man Utd and Chelsea, come face-to-face. Mario Sousa put Chelsea ahead before Jorge Correira hit back to level the scores. The game was evenly matched and despite this being the opening round of the tournament both teams were looking like early contenders for the title. The teams looked a bit rusty and sleepy but showed enough signs of quality to worry the English teams in this competition.