With 7 teams in each group there would be 1 team in each round who would sit out and watch their competition in action. In Round 1 that team was The Warriors. They would no doubt be champing at the bit to get their campaign underway.

The Warriors would start off against FC Miracle of Hungary. In Round 1, FC Miracle had started off with a defeat – only their third defeat in our Veterans tournaments. Could they bounce back?

The Warriors were making their fourth eurofootballfives.com appearance. Most recently they appeared at the 2017 Mallorca Tournament. 12 months ago in Spain they enjoyed success. In the group phase they recorded 2 wins from their 5 games as they finished in fourth place to qualify for the Plate. They recorded a 2-1 win over WEEDS Youth in the Semi-Finals and a 2-0 win over Dickie Dogs in the Plate Final to lift the trophy.

It was a decent start for The Warriors against the 2017 Lisbon Veterans Runners-Up but FC Miracle were on a mission. The Hungarians knew they had to win this and were very determined. In the end, just the one goal separated the teams – Janos Molnar of FC Miracle the man to score it.

In the next game we had two teams looking for their first win of the day – even though WEEDS Colts had 3 points to their names. Due to Bombeiros Faro's absence this would be their first chance on the field of play. They were up against Chorltonians Vets who opened up with a draw.

WEEDS entered the 2016 Lisbon Veterans Tournament and it was a tough baptism for WEEDS in Lisbon as a series of narrow defeats (3 x 1-0 for example) meant they left us at the end of the group phase.

They returned to action at the 2017 Mallorca Veterans Tournament with two teams – WEEDS Colts and WEEDS Youth. Both teams finished third in their respective groups and the prospect of an all-WEEDS Plate Final loomed. However, both teams went out in the Semis to Dickie Dogs and The Warriors.

It was a great start to the day for WEEDS Colts as they added to their walkover victory with a 1-0 win here. Big Chris Dunning was the hero of the hour as his goal saw off the Chorltonians Vets challenge here in Round 2.

The third fixture of the round was Mini FC versus Los Amblos. Mini FC had got off to a very strong start with victory over FC Miracle. Los Amblos began with a 0-0 draw and this match would surely represent a tougher challenge.

Mini FC are one of two previous Veterans Tournament winners in today's line-up. Mini FC were successful when the tournament was last staged here in 2015. On that occasion they won 4 out of their 5 group games which saw them win their group. They defeated Sergio Cristina in the Cup Semi-Finals (3-1) to set-up a final against Ireland's The Blackouts. The game finished 1-1 in normal time before Mini FC claimed the title, 3-2, on penalties.

In Brazilian style, Mini FC went by singular names and it was Pedro who was to give the Portuguese team the lead. In case you were wondering, it was not the Chelsea and former Barcelona man. 1-0 became 2-0 later in the game when Braulio scored his second in as many games. It was two wins from two for Mini FC.