Round 2 started with the Iberian encounter of Maruru (Spa) v RAF (Por). Maruru's last appearance in this tournament was in 2019 when they began their title defence following 2018 success. They began with a 0-0 draw against Hellgarve's Kraken (playing in 2024 as RAF) before a 3-1 win over AFC Basemen. A 2-2 draw against Deddington Sea Men preceded three successive victories: 6-0 v GHSFC, 4-1 v Inter Balear and 3-0 v Neptune Rams. They won Group A by 1 point over Hellgarve's Kraken with an impressive goal difference of 18 goals for and only 4 against. The quest to retain their crown continued in the QF with a 1-0 win over Mamamuu French Team before defeating Deddington Sea Men 3-1 in the SF. It set-up a repeat Cup Final of September 2018 against Ecuador 100%. In 2018 they won 5-0 but this time they were on the wrong end of a 6-0 result which saw the first of Ecuador 100%'s current run of 3 titles in a row.

5 years on from that 0-0 draw against RAF they were up against the Portuguese for a second time. Would we get goals this time? It looked ominous as RAF had drawn their first game today 0-0 versus Sutton on Tour. Maruru were also yet to score as they lost 1-0 to Dumpling CF.

In fact Maruru were to draw a blank again as RAF goalkeeper Ricardo Pacheco kept his second clean sheet of the tournament. RAF found their goal-scoring boots though with Tiago Sousa scoring their first of the day. Diogo Arsenio opened his personal account for the competition as RAF wrapped up a 2-0 win.

RAF had made a good start with 4 points from 6 but Maruru were struggling.

Sutton on Tour's most recent appearance was at the 2023 Lisbon Tournament. They opened up with a narrow 1-0 loss to Tikki Masala of the Netherlands before securing their first win of the day (1-0) over Fylde FC OB. A tough 4-0 defeat to Portugal's RAF1 followed but they picked up another point after a 1-1 draw with Deportivo Dooradoyle. They met RAF3 next and it was equally tough against Portuguese opposition going down 5-0. The bounced back for a third time with a 1-0 win over Bugiels Rovers which saw them finish 5th out of 7 teams. It meant Plate qualification and they got a really tough draw against the reigning Amsterdam Sixes Cup champions, Dolce & Lallana. Sutton on Tour went out after a 2-1 defeat.

They opened up with a more than creditable 0-0 draw with RAF and they would now complete Round 2 of Group C by taking on Team Rock. The Spanish team had impressed in their first eurofootballfives.com fixture when they defeated Eltham International, 2-0.

Team Rock seemed to be growing into the tournament as they kept up their 100% record by storming to a second consecutive win without conceding. Jaume Gamundi was the catalyst for this victory with the opening goal and following that up with another to make it 2-0. Gorker Teyander made the game safe at 3-0 before Chiqui put the icing on the cake with his second goal in as many games. The 4-0 win put Team Rock top of the table.

Sutton on Tour should not despair though – the fixture list had seen them begin against the top two. Potentially kinder fixtures to come.

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