The
Cup Quarter-Finals saw the elite 8 teams of the
competition come together to battle it out and
become the 2009 Barcelona Fives champions. There
was a heavy local presence in the final eight
with six of the teams coming from Spain . There
were also two English teams in the draw to complete
the Quarter-Final line-up. The tournament was
wide open and you would be hard pressed to pick
a winner.
One
of the teams who were in with a good shout were
the 2008 Barca Fives winners – Rapid
Bosco Navas. After a shaky start losing
2-1 in their opening game they bounced back with
two victories to win Group A. When they won in
2008 they only finished 3 rd in their group before
coming into their own in the knock-out stage so
they would have to be watched closely. The team
tasked with stopping them were 3
Lions FC.
3
Lions FC had also lost their opening game but
had then recovered to go 3 games unbeaten. The
stats predicted a close encounter and the action
on the pitch backed this up. Both goalkeepers
were on top and neither attack could put the ball
past Charlie Craven (3 Lions FC) or David Garcia
Gallego (Rapid Bosco Navas) as they kept clean
sheets at full time. After two halves of golden
goal extra time there was still no break in the
deadlock so we would have our first penalty shoot-out
of the day.
Rapid
Bosco Navas would take the first strike and after
4 penalties we were still level at 2-2. Rapid
Bosco Navas then missed with their 3 rd penalty
and the game was there for the taking. 3 Lions
FC missed with their 3 rd penalty as well so we
were into sudden death. Did anyone want to win
this game? The tension was tangible with both
teams competitive spirit clearly on display.
In
the first round of sudden death the game would
be decided with two decisive moments. The first
was goalkeeping hero Charlie Craven who saved
the Rapid Bosco Navas penalty. The 3 Lions FC
squad went mental and the cheers could be heard
across the tournament complex. In all the excitement
the 3 Lions thought they were through and forgot
they had another penalty to take to seal the game.
Once everything had quietened down Luke Garvey
stepped up to take on David Garcia Gallego.
With
a run-up longer than the runway at Stansted that
brought them here Luke Garvey coolly drove the
ball into the back of the net and the 3 Lions
celebrations could begin in earnest this time.
A tough way for Rapid Bosco Navas to go out but
we will see them again in November when they defend
their Barca Fives trophy.
All
that excitement and we were only one game into
the quarter-finals. Could Anglo
Knights and Black
Sheep follow that up? Well the answer was
yes and the game proved to be just as close and
just as exciting. At half-time we were still 0-0
but in the second half we saw goals – two of them.
Anglo Knights broke the deadlock when John Moorhouse
put the local Spanish team 1-0 up. They were not
ahead for long though as Black Sheep responded
almost immediately thanks to the boot of Marc
Chuecos. The goal was Chuecos's fifth goal of
the tournament.
Time
ultimately ran out on us and the game finished
1-1. Two halves of golden goal extra time and
there was no further addition to the scoreline.
We had penalties once again. The Anglo Knights
would take the first strike and miss giving a
great opportunity to the Black Sheep. They could
not take advantage though and so we remained at
0-0. Fortunes changed for the forwards with the
next round of penalties as both teams found the
back of the net, 1-1 in the shoot-out. Anglo Knights
pushed ahead 2-1 and up stepped Marc Chuecos who
at this stage was the tournament top goalscorer.
It was cruel luck on him though as he saw his
penalty saved by Jordi Arragones. Arragones was
the hero as Anglo Knights were in the semi-finals.
The Black Sheep were out, like Rapid Bosco Navas,
in the cruelest of ways. |
