Portugal are champions in Fuenlabrada after beating Romania in tense final
| Portugal celebrate after winning the title in Fuenlabrada. Image: Adrian Za
Portugal beat Romania 2 - 1 in a tightly fought and tense final at the Fuenlabrada tournament. The two teams met the previous day, but second time round Portugal held their nerve and took the victory.
|Image: Adrian Za
The finals day was a day of close matches and narrowly won games. Bosnia & Herzegovina took on Portugal in the semi-final - at full time the game was drawn five a piece. Portugal secured victory after sudden death penalties. In the second semi-final Romania faced Italy in a game of cat and mouse, where Romania won the game 4-3.
In the matches for third and fourth position, Bosnia regrouped after the disappointment of not making the final and put in a strong performance to beat Italy 7-4.
After a difficult day yesterday where Ukraine failed to win any of their matches, they came back fighting today and beat both Spanish teams to finish fifth in the tournament. Ukraine was awarded the FIFPRO Fair Play Award for their positive sporting attitude throughout both days of competition.
|Image: Rebecca Corbett / HWC
The Spanish teams, many of whom were playing street soccer for the first time, had adjusted to the tournament format and both celebrated victories against France. They finished in 6th and 7th place in the competition.
|Image: Rebecca Corbett / HWC
Despite finishing in 8th position, the French side were cheering and celebrating their Captain Moho Prince, who was awarded the President’s Pick for best goal in the semi-finals for a fantastic strike that nearly kept France in the game against Spain Ubuntu Dragones. This was supported by StreetBall, our tournament sponsor.
At the end of the games it was all smiles and hugs, there is a lot of love between these teams.
After the final between Romania and Portugal, the teams were congratulated by Mel Young and Sports Councillor for Fuenlabrada City Council, Agustin Dominguez, who celebrated the sense of unity, togetherness and sportsmanship shown throughout the tournament.
There were seven nations in the tournament, but for this weekend, the players were one family, united by their love of football.
|Referees come together ahead of the final in Fuenlabrada Image: Adrian Za
It was a fantastic performance for the referees, many of whom were in action for the first time. They all emphasised the importance of fair play, making sure that stayed at the heart of the matches.
|Our hidden heroes - the volunteers from Universidad Europea Real Madrid Image: Adrian Za
On the sidelines of the action were the hidden heroic team of volunteers from Universidad Europea Real Madrid. They were on hand to support the teams, to keep score, and countless other tasks - without their hard work the event really would not have been possible.
|Bosnian goalkeeper Aldin Hadinofski was awarded the Save of the Semi-finals. Image: HWC / Rebecca Corbett
Mel Young’s second President’s Pick was for the save of the semi-finals, this was given to Bosnia’s goalkeeper Aldin Hadinofski who made some acrobatic and incredible saves to keep Bosnia in the game until the final whistle. This was run by our ball sponsor Park who also donated a pair of goalkeeper’s gloves. They will be proudly worn by Aldin when he returns to Bosnia & Herzegovina.
|Image: Adrian Za
For the 70+ players, coaches and managers, whatever their team’s final position – it’s not only Aldin Hadinofski and Moho Prince who will be taking something home from these two days of competition. To represent your country is an honour that these players will never forget, and the coaches and managers will be on hand to keep these memories alive.