We were at the 2023 Mallorca Tournament Cup Semi-Final stage and from the 6 nations who started the day we were down to the final 4 – already an achievement for those who were still in the hunt for glory. Ecuador, England, Poland and Spain were still in the hunt for glory. The first Cup Semi-Final would see Riptide versus Polonia Limerick.

This was going to be a hard game to call on paper as both teams had played superbly this morning. Riptide had needed a final game win to seal the Group A title and were unbeaten coming into the match. They had 2 wins, 2 draws with 7 goals scored and just 1 conceded. Polonia Limerick had 2 wins, 1 draw and 1 defeat with 6 goals scored and 3 conceded but that famous win over Ecuador 100%.

All that counted for nothing as the teams took to the field on Pitch A. They would have to do their talking on the pitch but just like the Plate Semi-Finals it was the defences that were on top as we got to the business end of the tournament. We reached half-time with the scores still tied at 0-0.

As the game wore on it increasingly looked like one goal would win or a penalty shoot-out would be required. We were to get a goal and the man to score it was Przemek Wajnert – it was his first goal of the day and what a time to get it! We had already seen from that match versus Ecuador 100% that Polonia Limerick were adept at holding onto a 1-0 lead and they did so again here.

It was all over for Riptide today but they'd performed well on debut. They were out having just conceded twice all day. Polonia Limerick had a Cup Final to prepare for.

So, who would take their place in the Final from the second Semi-Final? The two teams set to do battle were Ecuador 100% (Ecu) against Santander FC (Eng).

Ecuador 100% would no doubt be favourites for this game. Partly due to their historic record of winning this tournament in 2019 and 2022. Partly because they had lost just 2 in 28 games since the start of the 2018 Mallorca Tournament. Partly because their recent run of results read 5-0, 6-3, 6-2. Partly because they were 5-0 up against Santander FC's sister squad before that game came to a premature end.

With all that being said, Santander FC were the stronger of their two squads and they proved this by qualifying for the Cup by navigating Group A unbeaten. They had two wins and two draws to finish joint top on 8 points. They missed out on the win via goal difference (7-3 to 7-1).

Ecuador 100% now seemed to be fully in that groove that saw them sweep to glory in 2019 and 2022. They took the lead through Jose Mosquera before Meteo Paz made it 2-0. Mosquera scored again to make it 3-0 by half-time. These two forwards were hugely impressive players – both of them now had 8 goals for the tournament and looked like they could score virtually at will.

In the second half they extended their lead to 4-0 thanks to a goal from Andres Dorado before Joe Doody bagged a consolation to make it 4-1.

Commiserations to Santander FC who put in a great performance on the day overall. Ecuador 100% were just too good in the semi-final and there's certainly no shame in losing to such an accomplished team.

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