Welcome to Lisbon! The stage was set for our fourth Lisbon tournament and eurofootballfives 92nd tournament in Europe. We had 28 teams assembled with 16 in the Open Age section and 12 teams in the Veterans category. We had teams representing Brazil, England, Hungary, the Netherlands, Portugal and Scotland across the two sections. There was also a variety of teams within the Portugal contingent with teams from Estoril, Lisbon and Porto featuring.

Here in the Open Age section there would be two groups with 8 teams in each group. Each team would play each other team in their group once and therefore 7 group games. After which, depending on position, they will progress to the Cup (1st to 4th) or Plate (5th to 8th) competition.

The first teams due on Pitch A were ADP Netherlands and Brewin Dolphin. The former had previous eurofootballfives.com experience (more on them later) but Brewin Dolphin were new to our tournaments. They seemed to acclimatize quite quickly.

Two goals from Jason Ryan set them on their way before David Stephenson rounded off a fine debut win for the team from Newcastle. This eurofootballfives.com lark must have seemed pretty easy!

Whilst the crowds by Pitch A were enjoying ADP Netherlands versus Brewin Dolphin, those assembled by Pitch B would witness Retainers Academy versus Leave It FC. Both of these teams were part of a travelling group that featured 2 teams so they would each have sister squads in the tournament. Both teams were also making their second eurofootballfives.com appearance after 2016 debuts in Amsterdam and Barcelona respectively.

The Leave It FC squad started steadily in Barcelona with two good 0-0 draws against Skackney FC (NZ) and Me Toca Tirar (Spa) with the latter going on to win Group C. They then picked up a first win over Farcelona and were well-placed. However, 4 defeats (including 1 against the eventual champions Elcombe Old Boys) saw them slip down the table and also be eliminated after the group phase. They arguably drew the group of death in Barcelona.

They made an even better start here in Lisbon as they raced to a 3-0 victory. Rotimi Ibironke in particular enjoyed himself as he bagged a hat-trick to get his team off to the perfect start.

The next fixture in the opening round of Group A was Cruz Del Sur B (Eng) versus Indoorsoccer (Por).

Cruz Del Sur were making their 5th European trip in our tournaments and it was their 4th adventure featuring two squads. The B team's most recent form was at the 2016 Riga Tournament where they finished in fifth place of Group D with 5 points to qualify for the Trophy Quarter-Finals. They left the tournament on penalties after a 0-0 draw with One Calamski.

To improve on that Riga performance here in Lisbon they would need to be at their best in what looked to be a tough group and it looked to be a particularly tough opener. Indoorsoccer had previously qualified for the Cup in their only previous Lisbon Tournament appearance.

It was the local team who established a lead with Antonio Roendes and Claudio Reis both finding the back of the Cruz Del Sur net. Indoorsoccer did not have it all their own way though. It was Cruz Del Sur who would have the final say in the goal-scoring stakes as Joubin Moghaddam pulled one back. Final score, 2-1.

The final fixture in the opening round of Group A was PMPCAR (Por) versus Barrymoore's Swimming Club. The Portuguese team were making their debut in our tournaments here in Lisbon.

Barrymoore's Swimming Club made their debut at the 2016 Barcelona Fives (as Beercalona). It was an impressive start as they picked up 4 successive wins before a defeat to 2008 Krakow Trophy winners Red Light Runners. The result seemed to knock them off their stride as they then finished with a 0-0 draw (admittedly against 2013 Barcelona Fives winners Los Swallacticos) and a surprise 1-0 defeat to Drunk Perfect. They finished 2nd in their 8-team group though to qualify for the elite Cup competition. In the Quarter-Finals they went out to Me Toca Tirar (Spa), 2-1.

It was another fast start for the English team here in 2017 as Sari Itani scored twice to make it 2-0 before Jason James rounded off the scoring and a fine 3-0 victory.