We arrived at the Plate Quarter-Final stage and we would shortly see eight teams reduced to four teams. We still had teams from England, Poland, Portugal and Spain in the hunt for honours in what was our equivalent of the “Europa League”

First up was the all-English encounter between Dumpling CF and Sheffield Thursday. The latter had started very well today with 4 points from 6 before pushing Ecuador 100% very close as they missed out on a point due to a last minute winner from their opponents. We expected them to kick on from there but instead two defeats saw them slip down the table into fifth position.

Their opponents Dumpling CF had gained an extra point in the group phase on their way to fourth. They competed at the Plate Quarter-Final stage of the 2023 Barcelona Fives just 7 months ago. They lost 3-0 to RSC Andylecht on that occasion but were to enjoy this Quarter-Final experience much more. Daniel O Mahoney (2), Rob Huckle and Oliver Roberts were all on target as Dumpling CF powered into the Semi-Finals, 4-0.

Sadly, it was the end of the day for Sheffield Thursday (on the pitch anyway) but they had shown in their early form they were able to compete in these events. With this experience behind them there's the propsect of better things to come in the future.

With all the drama above unfolding on Pitches A and B, over on Pitch C we had CBT FC versus RAF in action. It was England versus Portugal in the lower half of the Plate draw.

CBT FC had reached this stage once before at the 2022 Barcelona Fives where they went out to eventual Plate winners Polonia Limerick (4-0). They also had previous experience against their opponents RAF as they met at the 2023 Krakow Trophy in the group phase. RAF were in determined mood on that occasion as they needed not only a win but goals for goal difference to secure Cup qualification. As a result, RAF ran out 4-1 winners.

Onn that basis, the omens did not look good for CBT but they put in a performance that defied the form book. A battling first half saw them change ends with the scores still level at 0-0. In the second half RAF forged ahead through Cristiano Silva but it was not enough to earn victory. Will Baker had the final say for CBT FC in Krakow and it was Phil Hodgson today who had the final word in terms of goal-scoring. This time CBT FC were close enough that it meant the goal earned a 1-1 draw and would take them to penalties.

CBT FC started badly missing their first spot-kick but just as it looked like they were heading out Ross Edmonds made the save to make it 2-2 at the end of the regulation spot kicks. Sudden death followed with two successful rounds to make it 4-4. Two misses were followed by two goals as the teams were still locked together at 5-5. The 8 th round of penalties proved decisive – CBT FC missed, RAF scored and it was the Portuguese who went through. Euro 2004, World Cup 2006 and now Mallorca 2024 had seen Portugal triumph over England from the spot!

Three Quarter-Finals down, one to go as Maruru would play AFC Blue Boys. Their prize was a place in the Semis against RAF. The two teams were just two wins from a European final.

Maruru were in unfamiliar territory playing in the Plate for the first time. At their previous 3 appearances they were Cup Semi-Finalists, Cup Winners and Cup Runners-Up. Maruru were paying the price for a slow start today losing their first two games. They would be dangerous opponents for AFC Blue Boys.

AFC Blue Boys had reached the Cup competition before here in 2022 where they lost on penalties in the Quarters after a 0-0 draw with Alabama Hotpockets. In Mallorca they had also qualified for the Plate on each of the two previous seasons. In 2022, it was a 2-1 defeat to France's Los Froggies del Patron at this QF stage. In 2023, it was a SF defeat as they lost 1-0 to Urbansport.

It was Maruru who hit the front in this game with Diego Plate scoring his third goal of the day. Bartosz Kupisiak scored an equalizer to make it 1-1 for AFC Blue Boys and earn a penalty shoot-out.

AFC Blue Boys, in the Open Age section of our events, had lost two penalty shoot-outs in the Plate Final of the 2021 Barcelona Fives and the Quarter-Finals here in 2022 as mentioned above. They had won their last shootout against Rabid Bosco Navas at the 2022 Barcelona Fives Cup QF. Maruru had only been involved with 1 shootout in our events and they lost it in 2018 at the Cp SF stage.

It didn't start well for Maruru as they missed their first penalty but, in contrast, AFC Blue Boys were exemplary. They converted 3 out of 3 penalties and progressed 3-2. The Polish team marched on.

Open Age

(For Veterans, click introduction and then select the relevant Veterans section)