First of all we hope that all of our families had a wonderful and warmly thanksgiving with their beloved ones. Anyways after having enjoyed some family time and delicious meals, our B1 USA Players had to get back to business with another tournament.
This time only two teams of our Academy participated in the 34th Thanksgiving Classic in Naples from the 27th to the 28th of November.
The Thanksgiving Classic is known to be a really competitive tournament with top teams attending each year so our players were prepared to fight and give their all on the fields.
The U12 kept their fighting spirit
Let’s start with our U12 Boys, who despite the hard games they went through were able to keep the fighting spirit from start to finish.
Their first game was probably the hardest as they faced Boca United. The rivals had a strong team and were offensively efficient, making it hard for our boys, to defend some of the actions, leading to a 7-1 loss at the end of the game.
Moreover, in their second game, our boys faced FC Prime, and unfortunately, they were not able to overcome them and ended up losing the game 3-1.
The third game confronted our boys to the PSG Academy, which is also a really hard team to play against. We can say our boys had a rough weekend but the most important is that they learn a lot from these games. Our boys couldn’t find the back of the net and lost 4-0.
Keegan’s debut with U12 team
Unfortunately Oliver Guri from U12 team suffered an injury that prevented him to keep on playing in the tournament.
That is why Keegan Lee, a player for the U11 Boys team had the opportunity to play alongside de 2009 boys at the Thanksgiving Classic.
Keegan himself and his parents were extremely appreciative of this opportunity, they felt welcomed instantly and Keegan was able to learn a lot from this experience.
We wish Oliver a quick recovery, we hope to see you again on the training field!
The U13 Girls put up a fight in Naples
Our U13 girls also participated to this weekend’s tournament and were ready to defend their colours once again, but the games they faced were also as challenging as for the boys.
However, in their first game, our girls put up a fight against a strong Florida West team, only losing to a single goal in the first 3 minutes.
The girls were able to wake up and play with more quality, having a couple of opportunities but it wasn’t their day as they couldn’t find the back of the net.
Furthermore, their second game was probably the most challenging as our girls faced Anbry Boca in a highly competitive game.
It was hard for our girls to keep up in the game as they faced a really structured team. Despite the efforts of our girls, the game ended at 4-0 in favor of the opponents.
Afterward, our girls faced Sunrise Prime in their third game of the weekend. Not being discouraged at all, the girls were able to get back on their feet and perform greatly in a nail-biting game finishing in a 1-1 draw.
Finally, in their fourth and last game against Cooper City Cobras, the girls really wanted to find a win to end the tournament on a good note.
The girls started the game as determined as possible and decided to fight until the last seconds of the game. The girls were able to beat the opponents with a stronger mentality and physicality, showing some offensive qualities. The girls left the field with a dominating 4-0 win.
We are extremely proud of both teams. These tournaments can get really hard, but in challenging games, one learns things he could not learn in an easy win, so it’s a win/win situation.
Congratulations to everyone and we are looking forward to the next Tournament!
