As the 2022 Lisbon Tournament Cup Quarter-Finals were about to get underway we were down to the elite 8 teams in the tournament. There was a particularly strong Portuguese challenge with 4 teams represented. There were 2 teams from England and also a team each from Belgium and Brazil.

We started on Pitch A with RAF1 (Por) versus The Basemen. The two teams had met in the group phase of the 2019 Mallorca Fives when The Basemen beat RAF1 (playing as Hellgarve's Kraken), 1-0. RAF1 had been hugely impressive so far today and currently boasted a 100% record. Not only had they won every game but they were yet to concede a goal. With 8 goals scored they were pretty proficient in front of goal as well.

The Basemen had a big battle on their hands but it was one they were certainly capable of competing in. It was the English team who took the lead when Ant Chandler became the first man in the tournament to put one past goalkeeper Ricardo Pacheco. RAF1 had a key marksman up front in the form of Tiago Nogueira who took his tally to 5 for the day when he equalized, 1-1.

In the second period Chris Maydom doubled his tournament haul to put The Basemenahead again at 2-1. RAF1 were staring at defeat for the second time in this fixture but they were again able to rescue the situation. Tiago Nogueira continued his goal-scoring progress when he equalized again for 2-2.

The match would be decided by a penalty shoot-out. Both teams had competed in one penalty shootout before in our tournaments. Both had won and both were at the 2019 Mallorca Fives. RAF1 had beaten Urbansport in the Cup QF, The Basemen had beaten Red Cow Belgrade in the Plate SF. It was The Basemen who continued their penalty shootout success with a 3-2 victory.

Quarter-Final three saw CDAL (Por) take on Pangere FC Brasileiros (Bra). CDAL (Por) had been hugely impressive this morning en route to winning Group C. They had a 100% record scoring 16 goals and conceding just 1. They were the highest ranked team from the group phase.

Pangere FC Brasileiros had a rich record in our tournaments having won here on debut in 2017. A year later they were back but could only reach the Plate – they ended up finishing in 2 nd after losing the final on penalties. Fast forward to 2019 and they were back in the Cup Final where they drew 0-0 v Indoorsoccer Café o Trem but lost out on a second title via penalties again.

Having reached 3 finals, CDAL represented the toughest hurdle they had in reaching a fourth. They gave as good as they got in this game though and held CDAL at 0-0 for long periods as the teams were level 0-0 at half-time.

In the second half we had goals to enjoy. It was CDAL who were celebrating as Gonzalo Machado proved to be the Portuguese hero. He scored twice to send his team marcing into the Semi-Finals.

The tournament was over for Pangere FC Brasileiros – for today at least. We hope to see them next time in their quest for a second title.

The final Quarter-Final was Montanelas FC versus RAF2. RAF's Cup Quarter-Final record so far read:

2015 Algarve Open: Won 4-3 versus Algarve All Stars (Por)

2018 Algarve Open: Lost 3-0 versus L'Albiceleste (Fra)

2019 Mallorca Fives: Drew 0-0 versus Urbansport (Spa). Won via pens.

2019 Algarve Open: Lost 3-0 versus Mini FC (Por).

They also had a Plate Quarter-Final win here at the 2019 Lisbon Tournament on the way to Plate success. Montanelas FC were on debut and were breaking new ground with every step.

With the game underway it was RAF2 who got off to a flyer with two quick goals. With just 3 minutes on the clock they scored twice in a minute through Gonzalo Fernandes and Tiago Sousa. They where in charge until early in the second period when Leandro Teixeira reduced the lead to 2-1.

Gonzalo Fernandes extended the lead to 3-1 and the game looked to be over but with 1 minute left Leandro Teixeira's 9 th goal of the tournament reduced the lead to 3-2 and if they could grab another they would earn a penalty shoot-out. There was to be another goal but it was Tiago Sousa who scored it at the death to complete a 4-2 victory.