Group B began with one very familiar team to eurofootballfives competition – Shahs of Sunset appearing for the 8th time. It also featured one brand new team to eurofootballfives competition – Colonel Getafe of Latvia.

Colonel Getafe may have had a bit of luck with the draw by playing Shahs of Sunset in their first game. In recent years, despite being a team that regularly qualified for the Cup and/or topped group tables in terms of points, the Shahs had often struggled in their opening games. So, this was a probably a good time to play them.

The record reads:

Valencia Fives 2012: Lost 2-0 to Luminy Wolves (Fra)

Budapest Fives 2013: Won 2-0 versus Wokingham FC (Eng)

Barcelona Fives 2013: Won 3-0 versus ADP Dream Team (Spa)

Bratislava Tournament 2014: Won 4-0 versus Rat Goblins (Eng)

Lisbon Tournament 2015: Drew 1-1 with CCD Oeiras (Por)   

Barcelona Fives 2016: Lost 2-0 to Bolivar (Spa)

Vilnius Tournament 2017: Lost 4-1 to Burritos (Eng)

You needed to go back to 2014 for their last opening game win. At the end of the first half here that run was odds on to be extended. Colonel Getafe had opened up a 3-0 lead before a more even second half. The Shahs of Sunset managed to reduce arrears after the break but still ended up on the losing side, 5-3. Goals for Guillaume Arnold (2), Paul Noonan (2) and Anovar Mussin helped the Latvian based team to victory.

Anes Jusic (2) and Martin Weltman both opened their accounts for the Shahs of Sunset who would hope to shake off that first game rustiness next time out.

Match 2 saw Paralytic Athletic U23s against Stag Park Rangers.

Paralytic Athletic (Eng) began their association with eurofootballfives.com in July 2016 at the Amsterdam Fives – it was an impressive debut. They secured 3 wins and 9 points from their group fixtures as they finished 2nd in Group A. They qualified for the prestigious Cup competition and claimed the scalp of Spider Man 1s in the Quarter-Finals with a 1-0 victory. They were up against a very good Benecke side in the Semi-Finals and took the game all the way to penalties after a 2-2 draw in normal time. Benecke went on to win the shoot-out and the tournament as a whole.

They followed up Amsterdam with an appearance at the 2017 Budapest Fives. It was another strong group performance that saw them unbeaten with 3 wins and 2 draws. They finished joint top of Group B in terms of points (with 2016 Krakow Trophy winners, Tinniedad & Tobacco) but were second on goal difference. In the Cup Quarter-Finals they drew 2-2 with the defending champions (Meglepetes) and went through 2-1 on penalties. In the Semi-Finals it was a 0-0 draw against Budapest Celtics before going out on penalties this time. It was déjà vu for Paralytic Athletic.

This was the first time they would appear with 2 squads. How would they fare?

Pretty well against a Stag Park Rangers team who were also 1 of a 2-squad travelling party. The first half proved pretty close and in fact the teams could not be split at the break. Jack Bryce-Smith scored the first of the tournament for Paralytic Athletic U23s and Sam Pepper scored the first goal on tour for Stag Park Rangers.

In the second half, the third goal of the game would prove decisive. Jonathan Clark of Paralytic Athletic U23s was the man to score the goal. It was a goal that would earn all 3 points for his team. Final score, 2-1.

With four teams out of five having played their first game it was just World Pinteur of France left to get their campaign underway. They would play Colonel Getafe who were fresh from a 5-3 win over Shahs of Sunset.

World Pinteur were making their second eurofootballfives.com appearance. They were so close to making it a winning start when they competed at the 2016 Lisbon Tournament. In Group A they recorded 4 wins out of 4 with 6 goals scored and 0 conceded. They met Fundacao Benfica in the Cup Semi-Finals and won the game 1-0. They then met Parques Tejo in the Cup Final. They won 2-0 against them in the group phase and were 2-0 up in the final before Parques Tejo pegged back the French to 2-2. The 2016 Lisbon Tournament would be determined on penalties and it was the Portuguese who were victorious, 2-0 in the shoot-out.

This was looking to be another close contest between two evenly matched teams. The teams were 1-1 at half-time with Romain Ziat and William Le Clerc goals cancelling each other out. In the second half it looked like World Pinteur might start with a win when Benoit Botteau put his team 2-1 up. In the very last minute Colonel Getafe bagged an equalizer through Paul Stewart (not the former Spurs, Man City and Liverpool man or so we think). It was one point each in a 2-2 draw.

The next fixture on the field of play was Shahs of Sunset versus Paralytic Athletic U23s.

Shahs of Sunset were making their 8th eurofootballfives.com appearance in Riga. It started for them at the 2012 Valencia Fives. They topped their group and qualified for the Cup competition where they lost out to Mestallaban (Ire) on penalties in the Quarter-Finals. In the 2013 Budapest Fives they topped their 6-team group again without conceding a goal to qualify for the Cup. They went to penalties in the Cup Quarter-Finals again but this time won through. Their adventure ended in the Semi-Finals when they lost to the eventual champions, Team Bear, 1-0. At the 2013 Barcelona Fives they finished joint top on 9 points in their group but ended up 3 rd on goal difference meaning they incredibly missed out on the Cup. A Plate QF win was followed by a SF defeat to end their day.

At the 2014 Bratislava Fives they finished joint-top of their group again with 12 points from a possible 15. They drew 2-2 in their Cup Quarter-Final with Spider Mans & Eagle before winning on penalties. In the Semi-Finals they also drew 2-2 with Skidmarks but this time went out on penalties. Their next appearance was at the 2015 Lisbon Tournament which saw them draw a particularly tough group and despite being unbeaten they finished fourth – 4 draws in 5 games slowed their progress. They qualified for the Plate competition where they secured solid 3-1 and 4-1 victories in the QF and SF to meet Frank Hirth B in the Final. They missed out on ultimate glory with a 2-0 defeat in the final.

2016 took them to the Barcelona Fives where they drew another tough group that featured two previous eurofootballfives.com winners. They won 3 out of 7 games and finished 5 th of 8 teams which saw them qualify for the Trophy. In the Quarter-Finals they defeated Ireland's Beercalona (1-0) before a narrow Semi-Final defeat to Giggs Boson (3-2).

The 2017 Vilnius Tournament saw a repeat of Barcelona (2013) where they finished joint top on 9 points in their group but ended up 3 rd on goal difference meaning they incredibly missed out on the Cup. A Plate QF win (3-0 v Bede FC) was followed by a SF defeat (1-1 draw, 2-1 pens) to end their day.

An opening game defeat here in Riga meant they needed a win to bounce back quickly in this 5 team group. It would not be easy against a Paralytic Athletic U23s team who had claimed an opening round victory. For the third successive time in Group B we found ourselves locked together, 1-1, at half-time. Anes Jusic with his third of the day for Shahs of Sunset, Jonathan Clark scoring for the second game in a row for Paralytic Athletic U23s.

The game that would take us to the half-way point of Group B was Stag Park Rangers versus World Pinteur. The former lost narrowly (2-1) whilst the latter came so close to a win but had to settle for a 2-2 draw.

World Pinteur were still unbeaten in eurofootballfives.com competition. In seven previous fixtures they had won 5 and drawn 2. They had scored 11 and conceded just 4 with only a penalty shoot-out seeing them fail to win at the 2016 Lisbon Tournament. So, when Guillaume Sourd gave World Pinteur a 1-0 lead in the first half it meant Stag Park Rangers had some work to do.

The English team's task got harder in the second half when Adrien Maurel made it 2-0. World Pinteur extended their lead further as Anicet Owona completed a superb 3-0 victory. It was an important goal as it meant World Pinteur were top by 1 goal on goal difference.