Results
 

Galacticos (Eng)

0

V

0*

Sergio Cristina (Por)

CFC (Fra)

0*

V

0

FC Hollywood (Eng)

Bafta Boys (Eng)

2*

V

1

Ecclesfield Eagles (Eng)

FC Radbroke (Eng)

2

V

0

Sao Pedro (Por)

* Sergio Cristina won 3-2 on penalties.

* CFC won via Golden Goal.

* Bafta Boys won via Golden Goal. 
 

The Cup Quarter-Finals saw the elite 8 teams of the 20 team draw come head to head to see which team would emerge as 2013 Algarve Open champions. Which of these fine teams would be celebrating glory in just a few hours?

 

The first Quarter-Final saw the Group B champions, Galacticos, meet the best 3rd placed team which was Sergio Cristina of Portugal. Group B was a high quality group and for Galacticos to emerge on top showed they were a high quality team and we fully expected them to progress. With the exception of the blip in their Round 2 game they had been playing some cracking football. Twice they'd played in a Cup Quarter-Final in our tournaments and twice they'd claimed victory (1-0 in the 2009 Barca Fives v Spain's Rapid Bosco Navas and 7-0 in the 2010 Valencia Fives versus England's Dickie Dogs).

 

They were made to work hard to make it a hat-trick of Quarter-Final wins. Sergio Cristina were on debut and in unchartered territory but they were playing liked seasoned pros. This was a very good contest indeed – good quality on show and played in a good spirit. In normal time the teams could not find a goal so we were into Golden Goal extra time and again neither team could find a breakthrough.

 

We arrived at the dreaded penalty shoot-out where we were witness to some fine penalty taking. After two penalties each we were level at 2-2. The third penalty for Galacticos was the crucial one – it was not missed but saved superbly by the Sergio Cristina goalkeeper. Sergio Cristina then converted their final penalty and it was Portugal victorious over England in a penalty shoot-out – where have we seen that before!

 

It was farewell to the Galacticos lads in footballing terms for the day and we looked forward to their next European adventure.

 
 
 

Cup Quarter-Final 2 saw Group A winners CFC of France in action against FC Hollywood of England who qualified in 3rd place from Group B.

 

CFC had been in fine form today but had just showed signs of weakness. They won their first three games scoring 7 goals in the process but had followed this up with two 0-0 draws. They were strong at the back and yet to concede but had just found goals a little hard to come by of late. FC Hollywood had been up and down today even in the same game but had shown great powers of recovery as on more than one occasion they had come from a goal down.

 

FC Hollywood had met CFC B in the 2012 Algarve Open and won 1-0 in the group phase but this CFC team had totally different personnel so may not be too much of a read in terms of today's proceedings.

 

The game proved to be just as tight as the first Quarter-Final and we finished at 0-0. We were into Golden Goal extra time but were spared a penalty shoot-out. For CFC that was a good thing but for FC Hollywood it was unwelcome as Antoine Creux scored a fine goal to settle the match.

 

CFC were through to the Cup Semi-Finals for the second year in a row. FC Hollywood exited at the Quarter-Final stage for the second year in a row. Last time it was to the eventual winners – CFC would hope that bit of history repeated itself.

 

It was the end of the day for FC Hollywood who have mentioned that the 2013 Krakow Trophy could well be their next challenge. If so, we look forward to seeing them then.

 
 
 

Cup Quarter Final 3 had a lot to live up to after the first two Quarter-Finals….and it did. Bafta Boys, Group C champions, were up against Ecclesfield Eagles. The two previous group winners had not had it all their own way – one was through, one was out.

 

Bafta Boys were improving as the tournament went on and momentum was with them having just won 7-0 last time out. They also possessed two players in the hunt for the Top Goalscorer prize with Joe Bardwell joint top on 6 and Tom Lambourne on 4. Ecclesfield Eagles had started off well with 3 wins in a row until, like CFC, two 0-0 draws had just stunted their progress a little.

 

The game proved every bit as close as the two before it as we reached half-time all square at 1-1. For Bafta Boys it was Pete Talbot's second goal in as many games. For Ecclesfield Eagles it was Adam Stephens second goal of the tournament. There was to be no addition to the score in the second half and for the third game in a row we had extra-time. It just went to show how well matched the teams were in this tournament.

 

We were spared penalties again as we found a Golden Goal and it was a very fine goal at that. Some quick exchange of passes between John Douglas and Tom Lambourne found Lambourne breaking into the area to finish into the back of the net and send his side into the Semi-Finals.

 

It was a tough exit for Ecclesfield Eagles who had made a superb debut and on another day could easily have reached the Semi-Finals and who knows what could have happened then. There was certainly enough potential to go on and win a tournament…after all, they were unbeaten in normal time in 6 games.
 
 
 

After all the drama in the other Quarter-Finals what could FC Radbroke and Sao Pedro summon up? FC Radbroke were no strangers to our Quarter-Finals and had reached this stage on all their previous tournaments. Their record read;

 

2012 Mallorca Tournament: 5-0 defeat to eventual winners Cosegur Balear   

2011 Prague Masters: 3-2 win versus Kehar Club (2007 winners)

2010 Valencia Fives: 6-1 win versus Plantaciones Inside

2009 Barca Fives: 3-2 defeat to 2-times eurofootballfives champions Lozenetz City of Bulgaria.

 

So, FC Radbroke would want more of the 2010/2011 success and less of the 2009/2012 defeats. Sao Pedro were on debut and in unchartered territory.

 

It was first blood to FC Radbroke who took the lead through Shaun Gurney in the first half. In the second half Mike Brandon made it 2-0 with his seventh strike of the day giving him the lead in the race for the Golden Boot and more importantly sealing FC Radbroke's place in the Cup Semi-Finals.

 

Sao Pedro had impressed on debut and we hope they will join us in Portugal again next season and maybe elsewhere on our circuit too.

 
 
 
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