The game itself was played with a great atmosphere as the other teams all assembled pitch-side to watch the show-piece game of the day. The game ebbed and flowed with both teams trying to attack. Both teams created chances and the deadlock was broken when Gerson Teixeira slotted home his seventh strike of the day. Lindfield FC showed their battling qualities though with Stuart Brown levelling things up with his fifth strike of the day.

 

The game finished 1-1 in normal time and we would need penalties to decide the title. PFC had lost the 2019 Cup Final in a shoot-out. Would history repeat itself?

 

Lindfield FC would have the honour of taking the first penalty. Up stepped Louis Pople with 6 goals today. Unfortunately for him and his team he saw his strike rebound off the left post to safety. Next up was Gerson Teixeira who, after a long run up, saw his penalty saved by Paolo Ciambrello. There was then controversy as the second referee called for a re-take for the goalkeeper being off his line. It was a tough one as we have photos showing Ciambrello on his line with Teixeira's striking leg at the top of the backswing and off his line as he makes the save but nothing in between as the strike was taken. It seemed a tough call live but we were following the ball and not looking at the goal-line. Teixeira made no mistake from the re-take and it was 1-0 to PFC.

 

Stuart Brown then fired home his penalty into the right corner to make it 1-1 before Rivaldo Semedo stepped forward for PFC. He struck the penalty hard and it was another save from Ciambrello and this time there was no question of being off his line. We were all level at 1-1 after two penalties each.

 

Harrison Mann was given the task of taking Lindfield's third penalty. He struck it hard down the middle, slightly to the left but Almir Coelho was equal to it as he diverted the shot up and over the bar. It meant Tiago Oliveira had the chance to win it for his team. Ciambrello who had “saved” two of the three shots he'd faced was unable to do anything about Oliveira's strike which was thumped high into the back of the net as he won the shoot-out, the match and the title for PFC.

 

Our commiserations go to Lindfield FC who were runners-up in a Cup Final for the second year in a row. They were inching closer and could not have done much more today. Third time lucky next season?

 

Our congratulations go to PFC on winning their second eurofootballfives.com title. They have a great record in this event and will be looking for a hat-trick of Lisbon Tournament wins next season.