The 2013 Barcelona Fives Cup competition was the hardest ever to qualify for with 2nd place in a 5-team group not guaranteed to make the elite 8 teams so well done to everyone who had made it this far.

The first Cup Quarter-Final saw ADP Netherlands 1 versus Sporting Gingham. It was the Group A winners versus the best 2nd place team in the group phase although both teams had a record of 3 wins and 1 defeat to their names.

We therefore expected a close encounter and that's what we witnessed as the teams shared the spoils in the opening period to go in level at 1-1. Jeroen Quispel scored for the Dutch team and Craig Spooner scored for the English side.

Into the second half and the game was just as evenly matched. Neither team could find a way through their opponent's defence and we reached full-time still level at 1-1. A penalty shoot-out would decide which of these two teams would progress and who would sit out the rest of the day.

English teams are not renowned for their penalty taking skills either at the professional level or in eurofootballfives.com competitions but Sporting Gingam showed how it should be done. Joe Humphreys, Saw Wowk and Ben Farrett all found the net and won the shoot-out 3-1 to go through.

It was farewell to ADP Netherlands as their first team joined their second team with a Quarter-Final exit. We thank them for making the trip from Amsterdam and it was our pleasure to see you in Barcelona – at the tournament and at our socials.

Who would meet Sporting Gingham in the Semi-Finals? The two teams taking the field for the honour were Club Tropicana Drinks FC and Melee FC. As with the opening Quarter-Final both these teams also had a record of 3 wins and 1 defeat. This was new ground for both teams – Melee FC were on debut and Club Tropicana Drinks FC had previously played in the Plate competition in Valencia 12 months ago.

There was much to play for and it was advantage to Melee FC early on when Kevin Webb gave his team a 1-0 lead. By half-time the lead was still in place and another solid display would see them through to the final four.

Club Tropicana Drinks FC needed a goal to keep their title challenge going. Melee FC had a strong defence though and although Club Tropicana threw everything at their opponents in a keenly contested match they were unable to find the breakthrough they needed. It was actually Melee FC who scored the next goal of the game as they completed a 2-0 win thanks to another goal from Jack Dell.

For Club Tropicana Drinks FC the hunt for European glory was over in Barcelona. It was a good performance from them and an improvement on their Valencia debut. The lads were off to see Espnayol versus Atletico Madrid later in the evening – we hope they enjoyed their football weekend with eurofootballfives.com.

For the Cup Semi-Finals this year though….step forward Melee FC.

The third Cup Quarter-Final saw Team Maverick as Group C winners meet the 3rd best runners-up Los Swallacticos. For the third successive Quarter-Final we had two teams coming face-to-face with 3 wins and 1 defeat. Team Maverick's reached the Quarter-Finals at the 2012 Valencia Fives but in the Plate competition – they had stepped up a level here in Barcelona.

Los Swallacticos had started the day well with three wins in a row but came into the game on the back of their first defeat – how could they respond? Pretty well was the answer as they opened up a 1-0 lead in the first half through Barry O'Neill.

Could Team Maverick find a second half equalizer? They did find a way back into the game and a goal in the second period through Manish Madhvani's 4th in 2 games but Los Swallacticos had two goals of their own in the second half from sweeper keeper James Loughrey and Barry O'Neill again.

The final score was 3-1 and Los Swallacticos were into the Cup Semi-Finals. We had to say farewell to Team Maverick but thank them again for supporting our tournaments and it was good to see their progress here in Barcelona.

The final Quarter-Final would see ADP Allstars take on El Combe Old Boys in a tasty encounter that proved high on tension as well as high on entertainment. It was also the toughest Cup Quarter-Final we had ever had with two group winners coming head-to-head. As it turned out, it was the best two group winners with the only two 100% records intact. This could easily have been a Cup Final on another day.

The game was every bit as tight as the two group records suggested – ADP Allstars had scored 9, conceded 2 in Group D whilst El Combe Old Boys had scored 10, conceded 2 in Group E. There were to be no further goals scored in the first half of this game as we turned around at 0-0. The second half also finished goal-less which would mean a penalty shoot-out to decide this.

ADP Allstars won the toss and would shoot first. Alberto March took it and although the El Combe OB goalkeeper Gartshore got a hand to it he couldn't keep it out. Matt Hall then scored in the bottom left corner for 1-1. Taher Mortezaie then scored in the bottom right for 2-1 before Peter Chiltern evened it up for 2-2. Andy Gartshore then made himself a hero by saving from Bruno Delautre. Andy Hampshire then kept his nerve to make it 3-2 and fire El Combe Old Boys into the next round.

It was a great debut for ADP Allstars and they would have to consider themselves unlucky for going out without losing a game – 4 wins, 1 draw. We hope they can join us next year and have another crack at glory.