FUTSOC FUTALAN IN BRADENTON FINAL

Reaching yet another final, the constantly improving FUTSOC FUTALAN premier squad attended the 1st Bradenton Cup in Bradenton, Florida, with outstanding results against some of the top competition in the state. After an opening tournament tie against the State of Florida's 4th ranked U19 FC Plant City by the score of 1::1, the second game was played under the lights in a much cooler setting, which saw our boys win 1::0 against another tough opponent – 14th ranked Brevard Soccer Alliance. In this match, FUTSOC once again dominated play 70/30 with several missed opportunities on goal and even had another score by U16 Karl Ackermann (who was invited along with Landon Lupo and Bruno Saade and a few others, to gain experience with the older squad in order to continue to assess their meteoric rise in development), incorrectly negated due to an offside call.

In a semi-final match, FUTSOC FUTALAN met the excellent opening round opponent FC Plant City once again and defeated them in a hotly contested match, by the score of 3::2 with goals from Romelaire (2) and recent addition, attacking forward Juan Sanchez (1). With this victory, the powerful opponent was eliminated and our squad moved into the final against 5th ranked U19 Boynton Beach FC. The match was played in scorching heat, was a tightly contested match, which seemed headed into overtime, when with less than one minute in regulation, a contested ball charge against our defender gave them a penalty kick. The perfectly placed kick, out of reach of our goalkeeper’s outstretched body, gave them the 2::1 victory and the tournament championship.

Congratulations for an extraordinary effort which saw our valiant squad play four (4) matches in searing temperatures in less than 24 hours (the opponent played one less match and had nearly 24 hours to rest prior to our match). Clearly, an advantage tour opponents, however, our customary objective was clearly accomplished in providing our younger players development opportunities in a higher competitive environment and higher age group. With this final, our young, dynamic squad rises to the 17th spot in the State of Florida, in the most recent rankings for youth soccer.

FUTSOC FUTALAN BRADENTON CUP (17): S. Fayad, A. Pages, R.Flemming, , Vinnie Companion, Landon Lupo, V. Henriquez, M. Emerson, Karl Ackermann, S. Theodore, Daniel A., K. Waite, Juan Sanchez, Bruno Saade, Mateo Galeano, Gabriel Gonzalez, Romelaire A., and Jose Navarro

SUMMARY: 2 - 1L - 1T ...... GF-6 / GA-4