Ireland U19s win 11th International Barcelona Trophy

The Tournament took place the 10, 11 and 12th of June in Barcelona

The 11th International F7 Trophy – 11è Trofeu Internacional de Futbol-7 – Ciutat de Barcelona has been held this past weekend in Barcelona’s Agapito Fernández’ football pitch. This year’s edition has encountered the national CP Football U19 teams of Ireland and Catalunya and the local team CE Vila Olímpica (not CP players). Ireland has been crowned with the “11th International F7 City of Barcelona Trophy” after winning Catalunya by 1 – 0.

Friday and Saturday the teams played a friendly. On Sunday the national teams played for the Trophy.  Ireland and CE Vila Olímpica opened the Tournament on Friday afternoon, in a friendly that saw the local team control the tempo of game from start to finish.  Nevertheless, ball control was relatively equaled along the match giving both teams a big score line. The game finished 9 – 7.

Play on Saturday opened with the friendly match between the Catalan team and the locals CE Vila Olímpica, who won with another big score line:  CE Vila Olímpica 10 – 5 Catalunya.

On Sunday Ireland and Catalunya played the ending game. Both teams were relatively evenly matched and saw many scoring opportunities but were unable to capitalize them. Not until the ending of the second half, that a decisive goal kicked by Irish player Dillion Devlin gave Ireland the Tournament’s Trophy. The final score: Catalunya 0 - 1 Ireland.

Joshua Treacy nº 7 from Ireland U19 team was awarded with the Most Valuable Player of the Trophy due to his high performance in the decisive match against Catalunya.

The Tournament has been organized by the Federació Esportiva Catalana de Paràlisi Cerebral (FCPC), in order to promote sports’ practice worldwide.. The Tournament welcomes annually noteworthy national teams and counts on the collaboration of volunteer’s, companies and organizations: the International Cerebral Palsy Football Federation (IFCPF), Ajuntament de Barcelona, Diputació de Barcelona, Generalitat de Catalunya, Unió de Federacions Esportives de Catalunya (UFEC), Obra Social La Caixa, Linde, DB Shenker and Coca-Cola.