The 2011 Barca Fives was our 7th tournament in Barcelona and to date we have had winners from England, France and Spain. This tournament saw 6 proud nations come to do battle with England, France, Hungary, Japan, Oman and Spain all represented. The field also included two past winners with Rapid Bosco Navas (Spain) and Luminy Wolves (France) back to compete after wins in November 2008 and November 2009 respectively.

It was one of those winners, Luminy Wolves, who kicked us off in Group A. The French team came to the tournament arguably as one of the favourites to lift the title. In November 2009 they were hugely impressive when they stormed to victory beating Goldsmith Williams (2-times eurofootballfives winners) in the final and Bulgaria's Lozenetz City (also 2-time eurofootballfives winners) in the semi-finals.

They returned in April 2011 when they looked the strongest of all the teams in the group stages until they were undone by Rapid Bosco Navas of Spain in the Quarter-Finals as they lost on penalties. Luminy Wolves were looking to regain the title this time.

It was therefore a hugely daunting opening fixture for their opponents Hiscox Bulls. The Bulls were making their eurofootballfives debut and with the game underway the match was proving as difficult as it had looked on paper. At half-time the French had opened up a 2-0 lead which had stretched to 5-0 by full-time. There was a hat-trick for Haikel Ben Khelifa plus goals for Sid-Ahmed Bouriche and Byllel Ben Khelifa.

For Hiscox Bulls it could not get more difficult and it was a sobering start to the day. They had plenty of time to get their tournament challenge on track.

Game 2 saw Hungary versus Spain as FC Miracle met Futbol7. Both teams were new competitors to our tournaments so it would be intriguing to see how the two teams fared.

It was Janos Gal who opened the scoring for the travelling team and it was a lead that would be doubled before the break by Zsolt Laszlo. With a 2-0 lead at the break FC Miracle were in firm command and although Futbol7 were closer to their opponents in the second period the game was already won. There were two goals in the second half shared by Zsolt Laszlo and Maycas for Futbol7. The final score of 3-1 was a great start for Hungary's FC Miracle.

The final team to begin their Group A challenge was Arse-A-Lona FC. The English team made their debut in the 2011 Budapest Fives for captain Jack Croft's stag weekend. They entered three teams with the pick of the squads going on to reach the Plate Final finishing Runners-up to Hungarian side Al-Kaloida. Like Hiscox Bulls they had a tough start as they also met Luminy Wolves.

Arse-A-Lona competed well and restricted opportunities for their opponents although they were unable to prevent the French going into half-time thanks to Allan Gosselin. It was always going to be tough for Arse-A-Lona to come back after the interval but when Haikel Ben Khelifa made it 2-0 that task become almost insurmountable. The game finished 2-0 and Luminy Wolves were well on their way. Although they suffered defeat it was an encouraging start for Arse-A-Lona.

Hiscox Bulls were back in action again against FC Miracle in Game 4 of Group A. After a tough opening encounter their second match did not look much easier against a Hungarian team who had impressed in their first match. Hiscox Bulls opened their goal-scoring account as William Waddell-Dudley scored his team's first of the day although it was not enough to prevent them going into half-time 3-1 down.

In the second half, FC Miracle grabbed a fourth goal to put the icing on the cake in a solid 4-1 victory. Janos Molnar scored his first of the day, Janos Gal scored for the second game running and Zsolt Laszlo scored another two to put him on 4 goals in 2 games. FC Miracle joined Luminy Wolves at the top of Group A. Hiscox Bulls had work to do.

The next game was Futbol7 versus Arse-A-Lona FC as Spain met England the week before the two national teams came face to face. Both teams were looking for their first points and a win here would see the victors jump into 3 rd place and in contention for a place in the Cup.

It was first blood to England as Arse-A-Lona FC took an early 1-0 lead. Futbol7 hit back though through Maycas who looked some player. In truth, Maycas was the difference between the two teamas and when he scored a second Futbol7 had much to owe their number 11 for a 2-1 lead by half-time.

After the break there was to be a lot of effort and a lot of action but no further scoring and Futbol7 ran out 2-1 victors. The victory put the Spanish team in 3rd place and in a healthy position. It did not look quite so rosy for Arse-A-Lona but we were only at the half-way stage of the Group and plenty of points to play for.