Vamos (Pol)

2*

V

1

Half Parisian Saint Germain (Eng)

Cracow United (Pol)

3

V

0

Valeo (Pol)

Dancing Horses III (Eng)

2*

V

1

IFC (Pol)

Skidmarks (Eng)

3

V

1

Lox (Pol)

* Vamos (Pol) and Return of Dancing Horses III (Eng) won via Golden Goal.

 

The Cup Quarter-Finals saw the tournament's top 8 teams of the 15 team draw come head to head to see which team would emerge as 2012 Krakow Trophy champions. We had 5 home teams and 3 travelling teams still with a chance of grabbing glory so where's your money? Who do you think will emerge victorious?

The first Quarter-Final saw the Polish team, Vamos, take on England's Half Parisian Saint Germain. Vamos would surely be favourites having lifted the Group A title with 10 points out of 12 – the only points they dropped is when they played over half the game a man down. Half Parisian Saint Germain would be no pushovers though as they came into the game on the back of two successive wins.

If Vamos were under any illusions on their potential progress to the Semi-Finals they were no longer. Half Parisian Saint Germain took a half-time lead through Michael Meredith. You had to go back to the 2008 Barca Fives to find the last team who finished third in their group before going on to claim a title (Rapid Bosco Navas). Half Parisian Saint Germain were certainly in the mix to become the second.

If they were to take one step closer to this goal they would need Golden Goal Extra Time though as in the second half Przemak Musiaz equalized. After the first period of extra-time we were still all square at 1-1 with a penalty shoot-out looming. We would not get that far though as Przemak Musiaz scored his second of the game and put Vamos through. They had overcome a major hurdle in Half Parisian Saint Germain.

The tournament was over for Half-Parisian Saint Germain but they had shown plenty of fine attributes today and if they toured again we are sure there is more to come from them.

 
 
 

Cup Quarter-Final 2 saw Cracow United in action against Valeo. With Vamos already through we were assured of one all-Polish Semi-Final. Cracow United were one of two teams to reach this stage with a 100% record intact. Valeo had started the day with two consecutive wins and followed that with two consecutive defeats – a third would see them leave the competition.

Cracow United were certainly favourites and they showed why as they swept into a 2-0 lead with goals from Rogier Offers and Ian Corkhill – his 9th of the tournament and our current leading goalscorer. At half-time the 2-0 lead remained and Valeo had a massive task ahead of them. It was a task that was beyond them and Cracow United extended their lead to 3-0 with a second goal from Offers.

3-0 was the final score and that 100% record was maintained with 5 wins out of 5. It would be a brave man to bet against Cracow United going all the way today.

 
 
 

The second of those 100% records was held by Return of the Dancing Horses III who met IFC. On paper, this was certainly the toughest of the Cup Quarter-Finals and it proved that in reality.

In the group stages Return of the Dancing Horses III had avoided conceded a goal but that was to change here as IFC went into the break 1-0 up. In fairness, it could have been a bigger lead had it not been for the Dancing Horses' goalkeeper Scott Howe. He made several fine saves to limit the damage and at just 1-0 down they were still very much in this game.

Time ticked by without further addition to the score and late on the Dancing Horses drew level 1-1 courtesy of a Liam Apicella strike with the help of a goalkeeping fumble. The game ended 1-1 and we were into extra time. It was Golden Goal extra time and David Rose claimed his third goal of the tournament to become the Dancing Horses hero. IFC were out and they must have wondered how having dominated so much of the game in normal time. If they had been more clinical and if had not been for Scott Howe in goal the result could have been different. It wasn't though and the Dancing Horses had ground out a superb result.

 
 
 

Who would meet Return of the Dancing Horses III in the second Semi-Final? Would it be Skidmarks of England or Lox of Poland?

Skidmarks were on course for making it two tournament victories in two attempts but their progress was not as serene here in Krakow as it had been in Valencia. They had been held to a draw in two games but crucially were unbeaten and were still in the tournament. They were yet to taste defeat in eurofootballfives.com competition….this was the size of the task facing Lox. Could they prosper where 10 teams before had failed?

It did not look good early on as Neil Taylor put Skidmarks 1-0 up. Skidmarks were on their way to match victory #10 (with 2 draws thrown in) unless Lox could summon up something in the second half. The fact of the matter was they fell further behind as Iain Congdon and Gary Hatfield both scored. Although Michal Urbonczyk scored for Lox it was only to be a consolation goal as Skidmarks ran out 3-1 victors.

It was the end of the road for Lox but Skidmarks were on their way to a Semi-Final.

 
 
 
 
Group Phase
 
 
Plate Knock-out
 
Cup Knock-out
 
 

 
 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   
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