We were at the 2017 Lisbon Veterans Tournament Cup Semi-Finals stage and from the 12 teams who started the day we were down to the final 4. There was a strong local presence with 3 Portuguese teams making the cut and they were joined by FC Miracle of Hungary who were our tip for the title.

We began on Pitch C with FC Miracle versus FLX. FC Miracle had begun the day in imperious fashion winning their first 4 games although they were defeated by Talhos Mariete in their final game. They had scored 14 and conceded just the 1 goal on their way to the Group A title.

FLX had an identical points tally with 12 from a possible 15. They had 4 wins and just the 1 defeat. They had scored 11 goals and conceded 4 so looked to be underdogs on this basis but it is always difficult to judge due to the relative strength/weakness of the different groups.

FC Miracles showed that defeat in their final group game was merely a blip. They roared back to form with 3 unanswered goals in the first half to blow away their Portuguese hosts. Laszlo Zsolt was the man with the goals – all 3 of them. It was his fourth hat-trick of the day but his first since Round 3. It took him to 14 goals for the tournament. In the second half, Laszlo Alexey (a veteran of their 2012 Valencia Fives win) made it 4-0 to prevent any hopes of an FLX comeback.

So, who would take their place in the Final from the second Semi-Final? The two teams set to do battle were Futsal Peoes against Talhos Mariete.

Futsal Peoes emerged from the group phase as the Group B champions. They were simply fantastic from start to finish as they racked up 5 wins and 15 points. They were top scorers with 16 goals and had the best defence with 0 conceded. Including last year's Lisbon Veterans Tournament they had now conceded just 1 goal in 12 games. It was 7 games in a row since they last conceded.

Talhos Mariete had a massive task on their hands but were in good form themselves. They lost their very first game (2-1 to Compact Records) but since then had won four in a row including a 1-0 win over FC Miracle. They had scored 13 goals in the group and had kept 4 clean sheets in a row since that opening defeat.

Normally when we have 2 such strong defences on show we predict a tight low-scoring contest but with these two teams also possessing potent attacks we weren't quite sure this time. In the first half a solitary goal separated the two teams. It was Talhos Mariete who went ahead with Alexandro Teixeira becoming the first man to find a way past Isidio Carvalho today.

It was a feisty encounter between the two Portuguese teams and in the end it was Talhos Mariete who wrapped it up with a second goal from Fernando. It was a great victory for Talhos Mariete but cruel for Futsal Peoes. In the Open Age section, Barrymoore's Swimming Club had gone through the group stage without conceding only to go out in the first knock-out stage after conceding for the first time. The same had happened to Futsal Peoes here.

We had to say farewell to Futsal Peoes - we thank them for supporting our tournaments in Lisbon over recent years. Hopefully we will see you again when we return in April 2018.