We had six entries for this competition, split into two groups of three teams due to the split timetable. Of these teams, the top two in each group qualified for the final round a week later. On Wednesday morning (when everyone eventually arrived!), we had entries from Melons, mostly Hosei university students, FM, who represented China, and Gulf Team, continuing the strong tradition of MUELC's Arabic speaking students. In the first game, Gulf Team and FM played out a 2-2 draw, but they were both subsequently thrashed by the Japanese team. Melons easily qualified for the finals with three wins and a draw while Gulf Team clinched the second spot after defeating FM in their re-match. Melons' Takeshi and Takuma were the best players on the day, along with Gulf Team's Mohamed.
The following afternoon, another three teams began their path to the finals. Two (mostly) Korean teams, FK and FC Red Devils, lined up against our pre-tournament favourites Heaven, another (mostly) Hosei team. The boys in black lived up to their billing with four comfortable victories, and Shimpei and Kenta tore up the opposition. In the chase for the second spot, the first game ended in a draw, but FK just edged the Devils in the second encounter, with Joong-Hyun proving to be the difference between the two sides.
The next action took place on the evening of the following Thursday - our first night finals! The four teams entered the arena flanked by dozens of supporters, and these fans helped to make the night memorable. In the first round of matches, Heaven faced off against Melons (for whom Takuma was missing - he'd gone home to get his football trainers!) and quickly raced into a two-goal lead. Melons worked hard to retain their unbeaten record, and Takeshi's late penalty almost got them back into the game. However, after ten minutes, the result remained at 2-1. This meant that the other two two teams would benefit greatly from a win, but a 1-1 draw between Gulf Team and FK did neither side any favours as they would now need to beat at least one of the Japanese sides to make the final.
In the second round of matches, Heaven thrashed FK 4-1, with Shimpei's hat-trick ensuring that the Koreans had little chance of reaching the final. However, in the following game, both sides had high hopes of progressing. When Mohamed put Gulf Team ahead, it seemed that Melons were heading out of the competition, but a last-minute goal from Hiro broke the hearts of the Arabic students and put Melons back in the driving seat for the second final spot.
Gulf Team still had a chance to make the Final, but Shimpei's goal ended their run, leaving FK and Melons both needing a win to progress. In the end, the Japanese team crushed their Korean counterparts 4-0 to make it an all Japanese final.
After three tough games, both sides were tired, and the first half was very defensive with few chances. When Shimpei did convert a shot just before half-time, with one player from each team crossing the blue zone, the referee originally allowed the goal; however, after protests from Melons, Kenta agreed to diallow the goal! The pace was beginning to tell, and Takuma had a bad cramp attack, necessitating help from the physio and a stint in goals.
If the first half had been defensive, the second was almost non-stop attack. Shortly after the break, Taka's run and finish put Melons ahead, and when he repeated this effort with only five minutes remaining, it looked as though Heaven were dead and buried. The favourites immediately regrouped though, and goals from Shimpei and Hiroaki drew the scores level. Unbelieveably, with just a minute on the clock, Heaven again created an opening, and Shimpei converted his eighth goal of the evening to win the title!
Congratulations then to Heaven for winning a great Grand Final, and well done to Shimpei who easily won the Best Player Medal. Thanks to all of the fans who helped to roar on the players, especially in the Grand Final when everyone was feeling extremely tired, and we hope to see some of you again for our next competition, later this year. Until then, again, THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!
TEAM OF THE TOURNAMENT
Hamza (Gulf Team) Goalkeeper
Joong Hyun (FK) 9 Points
Kenta (Heaven) 13 Points
Taka (Melons) 19 Points
Shimpei (Heaven) 22 Points
Mohamed (Gulf Team) 12 Points