5 July 2016
In the afternoon of the 18th of June we were all gathered together in the world famous stadium of the Prendener Straße, but this time it was a little more special since we were not there to defend our colours in our beloved local Bunte Liga league, but to host the first edition of the “International Berlin Threesome” tournament. We had the privilege to host Harrisons Signs FC (York, UK) and Real Arese OFC (Milan, Italy).
The first game of the day brought the Harrisons Signs FC against the host team, FC Kickers Pufendorfer. In the first action of the game we could already see what the game’s script was going to be like: high pressure and very good ball passing coming from the British lads, who imposed their attractive football right away. On the other side, we encountered some inaccurate passing from the FCKP side that wouldn’t improve along the game, since they brought insecurity and negativity to the FCKP team. Even though the Harrisons Signs FC were pushing and creating a lot of chances, somehow we were managing to hold their attacks thanks to the good interventions of our defenders and some amazing saves coming from Marian, of course combined with a certain amount of luck. On the other hand, despite the continued attacks from the British lads, the FCKPs managed to bring some danger with counter attacks coming from the wings and even created a couple of good opportunities coming from Alex and Steffen with shots almost going in. When the match was just about to end and everything pointed towards a 0-0, Harrisons Signs FC managed to cross a ball from the side to the heart of the area, which was sent into the corner of our net. 0-1 for the Harrisons Signs in a very well-deserved victory.
After that, it was the turn for our two guest teams. In this match, the British lads imposed their attractive football again from the very beginning but they face a good and motivated team that was not willing to make their lives easy. During the first half the match was rather balanced with very good changes for both teams, but one counter attack coming from Harrisons Signs that ended in goal unbalanced the match in favour of British team. After that the Italian team was forced to push forward even more fiercely than before in order to look for the equalizing goal, but unfortunately for them, the British lads were very well compacted and in another counterattack managed to score their second goal, killing any hope for the Italian lads and also making them the shiny champions of the 1st International Berlin Threesome tournament.
With the champions already decided, the main purpose of the third match was just for fighting for the second position. During the course of the second match, the FCKPs gathered together to make a deep analysis on how to improve their way of playing and especially in how to turn all the previously generated negativity into something positive that would bring passion and good football. And somehow, it seemed to work!! From the very first minute of the match the FCKPs would turn into a whole different team, they were generous with each other and more confident enough to go for the victory. Nevertheless, the Italian lads were not an easy team to play against and the match was vibrant, intense and with some good opportunities coming from both sides. Moreover, after some good combinations, Alex got the ball just in front of the box, dribbled past the defender (with some luck) and got into 1 to 1 position with the goal keeper with no other option than to shoot a beautiful chip that went over the goalkeeper and directly into the goal. The defender tried to clear it off the line, but the ball was already inside when he got there. Some minutes after that Alex sent a deep pass to Steffen who with no mercy put the ball into the goal. 2-0 for the FCKPs. Right after, a shot coming from outside of the box was blocked by the goalkeeper, and it deflected into the 6 yard box, where Alex kick it in. Unfortunately the goal was disallowed by the referee due to a non-existing foul. When the match was just about to end, Alex got a ball from Steffen, turned and went straight to the edge of the box where three defenders were just waiting for him, he managed to filter the ball between them where a hungry Bart was waiting for it. Of course our killer didn’t miss the chance to pound the ball into the goal, giving the Italian goalkeeper no chance at all, and make it 3-0 for the FCKPs. A big congratulations to the winner of the first edition of the International Berlin Threesome: the Harrisons Signs FC from York UK. A big, big thank you to the organisers of the tournament for making this happening (big thanks to James who took care of almost everything), to the players who kept a very fair and friendly spirit during the whole tournament. And of course a big thank you to all our supporters who again came to cheer for us in this beautiful sunny Saturday. Also thanks to Volkmar and the Bunte Liga for letting us host this tournament. During the ceremony, some delicious food was served (thanks a lot Zahra!!) with some beers and beverages. Again the good spirit and friendliness was the premise.
Final standings:
Harrisons Signs FC (York, UK) – 6 points
FC Kicker Pufendorfer (Berlin, Germany) – 3 points
Real Arese OFC (Milan, Italy) – 0 points Goals: Alex, Steffen, Bart Assists: Alex (x2)
Players: Abdel, Adonis, Alex, Amir, Bart, Diego, James, Jon, Kyle, Marian, Nick, Pablo, Ross, Stefan, Steffen, Tolga Report: Alex MC
