The 5th July 2014 saw the third edition of the JNJ Euro Soccer 5-a-side Tournament kick off in the Slovakian capital of Bratislava. 12 teams from 7 nations assembled to do battle, who would emerge victorious and claim the coveted title and follow in the footsteps of JNJ Croatia and JNJ Russia A?

First up on Pitch A was JNJ High Wycombe B versus JNJ Serbia. JNJ Serbia featured in Group B of the 2012 JNJ Euro Soccer Tournament and finished 2nd in their group to qualify for the elite Cup competition. They ran into the eventual winners at the Quarter-Final stage and went out. In the 2013 JNJ Euro Soccer Tournament there was a case of déjà vu in the Group Phase as they finished 2nd in Group B – behind eventual winners JNJ Russia A. They exited at the Cup Semi-Final stage to JNJ High Wycombe A.

It was maybe fate that they kicked off against JNJ High Wycombe here in Bratislava although it was the B team instead of the A team. JNJ Serbia had met JNJ High Wycombe B in the group phase in Budapest 2013 and on that occasion had won 3-0.

With the game underway it looked like it might be a tighter contest this year as the teams entered half-time all level at 0-0. After the break the goals flowed and it was JNJ Serbia who emerged victorious with another win by a 3 goal margin. Branko Kosovic (2), Nenad Stojanovic and Aleksandar Drobjnak all scored for the Serbians with Paul Raines scoring what proved to be a consolation for JNJ High Wycombe B.

The final two teams in the opening round of fixtures began their campaign with Tekkers Lovakia meeting GBS Reds of the Czech Republic. Like JNJ Middle East, Tekkers Lovakia were on debut so we would grab our first look at them very shortly.

GBS Reds made it eurofootballfives.com appearance number 12 in Bratislava. They have previously made six Prague appearances plus overseas tours to the 2010 Krakow Trophy, the 2011 Amsterdam Fives, the 2012 Berlin Fives, the Plate Champion of Champions tournament in Budapest 2013 and the JNJ Euro Soccer Tournament in Budapest last year. They have reached 4 Plate Semi-Finals, 2 Cup Quarter-Finals and have 2 Plate victories to their name at the 2010 Prague Trophy and 2012 Berlin Fives.

It was honours even at half-time with goals from James Newton (Tekkers Lovakia) and Marcel Ghezzo (GBS Reds) cancelling each other out. In Budapest 2013, GBS Reds won their opening fixture 2-1 and when Vincent Solem put GBS Reds ahead after the break it looked like a repeat may be possible. Josh Lynn had other ideas and made it 2-2 and earn a draw for Tekkers Lovakia. Only time would tell if this was 1 point gained or 2 points dropped for these two teams.