After 59 games of football we came down to the most important of them all. Game 60 – The 2015 Algarve Open Cup Final.

The two teams set to do battle for the honour and glory of victory were RC Lens (England) versus Futeboladas (Portugal). Futeboladas had improved on their 2014 Algarve Open showing where they finished 3rd in their group before a Plate Semi-Final loss on penalties to 11 Esperencas Faz Clube. Had they improved enough to take the final step to glory?

RC Lens though were massively impressive on debut and would be the favourites going into the game. They had stormed into the Final with 7 wins on the bounce, 19 goals and only two goals conceded in the whole tournament. The only potential stumbling block for RC Lens was fatigue. They were a fit side but had no subs so all 5 players had played every minute of every game so far – would this take its toll?

There were no signs of it in the early stages as they were as enthusiastic and energetic as they had been all day. Futeboladas were matching them and it looked like this Cup Final could go the distance. The first goal in these Finals are vital and Futeboladas got off to the best possible start and scored the “go ahead goal” (Andre Franco) as the Amstericans would say – it was a crucial goal psychologically as well giving them the upper hand and the momentum which would have counted for more than the one goal. From there RC Lens would have to come forward and leave them vulnerable to the counter. Half-time, 1-0.

Futeboladas had the advantage but this game was far from over. RC Lens poured forward and did all they could to restore parity. Then, a couple of moments sealed this Cup Final. A Futeboladas break saw Cristial Silva double the lead to 2-0. It seemed this goal broke the spirits of RC Lens – they now looked visibly tired whereas moments before they were still fighting fit going for the equalizer. 2-0 very quickly became 3-0 as Jose Miguel finished the tie.

We offer our consolations to RC Lens who were absolutely superb and a top quality side. They had just run out of steam in the final stages.

Our congratulations go to Futeboladas – worthy 2015 Algarve Open Champions! The personal honours also went to Futeboladas as their number 13, Miguel Pereira, emerged as tournament top goalscorer with 8 goals.

Thank you to all the teams who competed. We hope to see you all again at a tournament very soon.