AOTFC 5's Tournament Durban 12 June

[cbead]

The Aussies On Tour FC have entered in an 8 team Futsal tournament to be played at Durban 5's Soccer, Northwood Crusaders Sporting Complex, North Durban... from 1pm on 12 June 2010.

http://www.durbansoccer5.co.za/default.asp

Afterwards there will be Braai, beers, socialising and watching Argentina vs Nigeria on the screen at the complex.

Further updates on team and results as they come to hand

[Jinnis]

Good Luck in the comp CB, would love to come n join in with you lot but unfortunatly i never managed to get tickets through the ticket systems. Not happy Jan.... Anyways all the best boys

[cbead]

The press are now on to our story... I expect a venomous blurb from Rebecca Wilson any day now

[dribble]

Good luck, not that you'll need it!

[Tezza]

CB will post a full match report but suffice to say we excelled yet again. A round robin of 6 games each then semi and final. We qualified in 4th and won our semi on a penalty shootout and tehn went down 2-0 in the final. Yet another awesome day in AOTFC history.

Thanks Chris for the organisation and to the Norwood 5 a Side for a great arvo and Braai afterwards.

[MathewKenna]

.....and I was sore for a week afterwards. Fantastic Day, probably the highlight of the tour, other than Kruger, Lion Walk et al. Im back in Australia on Monday will talk to you all then

[cbead]

Report from the tournament... please excuse any author bias

“DURBAN 5” INTERNATIONAL 5 A SIDE TOURNAMENT

The AOTFC team played in a 5 a side international tournament in Durban, South Africa on 12 June 2010. There were 7 teams in total, the format being a round robin group stage before a final 4 series. This was the AOTFC’s first ever foray in Africa and now the fourth continent the team has played in. There was a large crowd of spectators, media (the local paper was running a story) and team players in attendance for the tournament, including the AOTFC cheer squad consisting of Heather, Sharon, Veronica, Kellie and Tori. The AOTFC team consisted of CBead (captain), Tezza, MK, Jozo, Macca, Gordo and Big Al who was making his AOTFC debut.

Game 1. AOTFC 1 (Big Al) vs Internationals 0.

The first game saw AOTFC pitted against the strong Internationals outfit. The home side dominated possession and had several shots on target, with Macca making some of his customary saves in goal keeping the Aussies in the hunt. After absorbing the pressure most of the game with some stout defending and brilliant goalkeeping, AOTFC started to get some possession and after a clever team build up, Big Al slotted away a very neat goal on debut to put the visitors ahead 1-0. The last few minutes were a tense affair, but AOTFC held on to take out their first ever win in the 5 a side format. Success in our first ever game on African soil, and the Aussie girls cheering us on went wild.

Game 2 AOTFC 1 (Jozo) vs Total Football 0

Literally only minutes after the first game, the AOTFC lads then took on the Total Football team. A keeper change was made with CBead lining up as keeper and Macca playing in the field. The team started to gel better after the first game, and the Canberra contingent were linking together great plays. A great run by Jozo was rewarded with a goal after a power shot gave the opposition keeper no hope. The Total Football team then exerted much pressure on goal, but some resilient defense from the team kept them out, and the AOTFC went on to notch up 2 out of 2 wins.

Game 3 AOTFC 2 (Jozo, CBead) vs Team Leigh 0

With the confidence now sky high the team went in to the third match thinking we could just about take on the Brazilian national side. The AOT boys played some great football, our combinations now starting to work seamlessly. Jozo opened the scoring with some sublime skills to put us up 1-0, and soon thereafter CBead rocketed home a shot from distance to beat the keeper. Team Leigh had a dubious penalty awarded after a challenge in the area. Macca stood in the way of their comeback as he brilliantly dived to the left and saved the powerful spot kick. AOTFC went on to secure it’s third win out of three, the final score being a well deserved 2-0 victory.

Game 4 AOTFC 0 vs Langa 1

With half the round robin games completed and sitting equal top of the standings, the AOTFC played Langa and were brought back down to earth with a thud. Langa controlled the game completely, frustrating AOT with their skill and flamboyance on the ball. They went to an early lead with a goal, but afterwards the AOTFC defence stood firm after raid upon raid at their goal. Their keeper became a little too cocky coming up into our half, and when Langa lost possession gave Tezza a chance to be an unlikely hero with a shot into an open goal. Unfortunately he shot like a true left back and the ball sailed wide. We were outclassed but not disgraced going down 0-1.

Game 5 AOTFC 1 (Jozo) vs McNab’s Team 1

With AOT now dropped down to 3rd position we knew a result against McNab’s was imperative if we had any hope of featuring in the finals. They controlled the ball well and shot to the lead with a cracking shot after Macca had pulled off some super saves earlier. But there was a resilience amoungst the AOT players and some strong work by MK delivered the ball to Jozo who once again slammed the ball into the net to get us equal 1-1. The rest of the game was a torrid and niggly affair, which no team wanted to give an inch. The game ended all square 1-1.

Game 6 AOTFC 0 vs Miracle Men 3

Our last group game was against the undefeated Miracle Men. The showed very early on in the game they were a class above and went ahead early 1-0. Our defence was being stretched to it’s limits, with Gordo and Tezza dismantling many of their raids. But the unrelenting pressure was too much with Miracle Men scoring a screamer to go up 2-0 and then almost immediately from the restart their strong play was rewarded with another two on one tap in goal. They continued to press but AOT held firm to keep the damage to 0-3 at fulltime. We were beaten by a very tight outfit. As we exited the pitch one of their players coyly remarked, “welcome to Africa” . Little did he know those words would provide motivation to us a bit later on.

The interval

We had gone through the group stage with 3 wins a draw and 2 losses, and were sitting equal 4th position. As we took a well earned break, there were 2 games left between other sides which would dictate the outcome of the final 4. Looking at the match ups it seemed nigh on impossible that AOTFC could make the playoffs so we all started on the beers, and congratulated each other on our dogged performance. But to our surprise, we managed to scrape into 4th spot on goal difference. We had to psyche ourselves up now (after our beer drinking session) for the 1st vs 4th semi final, matched up with Miracle Men who trounced us 0-3 only half an hour earlier.

1st Semi Final (2nd vs 3rd) Langa 3 vs Internationals 1

2nd Semi Final (1st vs 4th) AOTFC 1 (Jozo) [Pen 3] (CBead, Jozo, Big Al) vs Miracle Men 1 [Pen 1]

It was always going to be a tricky game for the Aussies, taking on the undefeated Miracle Men who were the stand out team in the tournament so far. Motivated by their off the cuff comments after the group game, the AOT boys dug in deep to frustrate their opposition with some strong defence and counter attack raids. Miracle Men applied much pressure and shot to the lead at the halfway point with a well worked goal. It would have been easy for the Australian outfit to succumb, but our team continued to fight and after some great lead up work starting from Macca in goal, and passed through all the players, Jozo was through on goal and slotted away a magnificent equalizer late in the game to draw level. The final couple of minutes were tense and unrelenting, CBead even ripping a large hole in the sideline netting as it failed to stop his body going through it in full flight after delivering a cross into the box. As the final whistle blew it was a 1-1 draw and the result would come down to a best of 3 penalty shoot out to win a place in the final.

Semi Final Penalty Shootout

CBead won the toss and he elected for AOTFC to shoot first in the penalty shootout. The penalties could only be taken with a ‘one step’ shot. We picked our penalty takers as those who had already scored in the tournament, with Cbead taking the first kick, then Jozo and finally Big Al. Of course we had Macca in goal, being far and away the best keeper in the tournament of all the teams.

CBead took the first penalty, shooting truly into the right side netting and away from their keeper’s outstretched hand to put the Aussies on the scoresheet. AOTFC 1-0

Miracle Men’s first penalty taker struck the ball straight down the centre as Macca dove right, to equalize. 1-1.

Our leading goalscorer, Jozo come to the spot for the second spot kick and slammed the ball into goal, off the right upright to beat the keeper, giving the Aussies the edge once again. AOTFC 2-1.

The second of Miracle Men’s penalty takers came to the spot, a left footer. He hit the ball sweetly towards the left side of the goal, but not sweetly enough to beat Macca who once again showed his remarkable ability as a shot stopper, diving full length to make a brilliant save, and give the Aussies a great chance to pull off an unlikely victory. AOTFC 2-1

It was now down to Big Al, the man on debut to put us into the final. As the team was linked arm in arm we watched him walk coolly to the spot and place the ball. He rocketed his shot again against the right upright and into goal, giving the diving keeper no chance. We had won! The cheer squad went crazy and the Aussie lads celebrated on the pitch, swamping Big Al and our goalkeeping hero, Macca. AOTFC 3-1, and into the final.

Durban 5 International Tournament Final AOTFC 0 – Langa 2

After the drama of the semi final the Aussies now had to regroup for their tilt on the title against the flamboyant Langa team. They played their customary possession football and gave us little opportunity to gain possession. Once again we were defensively strong and began to frustrate Langa with our challenges. We were determined to put Langa off their game and some fierce and unrelenting challenges even left CBead with a black eye, which was unseen by the referee. Langa proved too strong though, securing 2 goals in the last few minutes to put the game out of reach for the Aussies. As the final whistle blew, we went down 0-2, but won the admiration of the crowd who stood and applauded us off the pitch. We had proved very worthy opposition, and showed the true AOTFC spirit to win the admiration of the locals and our supporters.

After the game we stayed on and enjoyed the Durban 5 hospitality. An after match function with a braai (BBQ) was enjoyed by all, and we chatted long into the night with the locals. Many beers were shouted for us by opposition players and the organizers.

All the AOTFC players would like to thank the Durban 5 managers, Janine and Craig, all the opposition players and spectators and our supporting cheer squad for a remarkable day. New friends were made, great football was played and once again we feel we have left Durban and Africa with a positive impression of Australia, and Australian football.

AOTFC goal scorers: Jozo 5 (1 pen), Big Al 2 (1 pen), CBead 2 (1pen)

[Tezza]

I would just like to point out that I had trouble with the Jabulani as it bobbled just before I struck it. And i am sure the altitude was a factor as well.

An awesome day once again and will be in the memory reels of South Africa. That is 3 continents for me as I missed out on Asia.

Big thanks to CB for the organisation with Soccer 5.

[meatpopsicle]

sounds like a great day!!! wish i could have been there and in south africa!!!

[MathewKenna]

I missed out in Germany so have notched up 3 continents too.

[milanchamp]

Sounds great. Well done lads.

[MathewKenna]

[Tezza]

Really MK, i hadn't noticed.