Referees of the day are Mr. Carlo Bache and Mr André Urbing, of the Luxembourg football Federation, who devolves his emolument to “Doctors without Borders”.

Before the last comment of the year, let us thank the referees, the photographers, the supporters, and all the players who made this tournament possible and lovely. Hope to see you all next year.

Sanpaolo vs. Pwc 6-0

As PwC couldn’t come on the field due to different injuries and holidays, Sanpaolo won automatically the third place.  Giovanni Sequi is awarded Top scorer of the tournament with 53 goals. Congratulations!

Ferrero vs. SEB 2-3

Final match of this incredible season, full of surprises and goals. On one side Ferrero, an invincible team who has never lost or drawn a match till today, looking for a victory that couldn’t be found last year. A victory they wanted to dedicate to Fabio Calorio, who left the company this year, after different years of work and football matches.  On the other side an incredible SEB, that started this year with a team without harmony, and deserved the final after an incredible season full of victories and a suffered semifinal against PwC.

Players

Ferrero: 1. Coimbra, 3. Tripaldella, 4. Sterckx (1 Y) , 5. Zagari, 6. Oricco (1Y), 7. Stella (1 goal, 1Y), 9. De Bosio,  16. D’Ambrosio  (1goal, 1 Y)

SEB:  Klein (unusual goalkeeper), 6. Zorzetto (3 goal, 1 Y), 10. Castaldo, 23. Martini, 2. Puccinelli, 5. Koltes (1Y, 1R), 19. Bianchi, 9. Zollo (1Y), 8. Boulard

Commentary
It’s the first time in his history that Luxembourg has the experience of a such crowded field during a football match. Neither during world cup qualification the stadium Josy Barthel has experienced such a high level of spectators. No places available for everyone, we apologize for all the girls we have let without a place. Congratulations to all supporters for the fantastic performance.

Double referee for this match, predicted, as every final, quite hot. Both teams with few important absences: Calorio, Frizzi and Lucchetti for Ferrero, coach Carletti and  Gobetti (goalkeeper, injuried) for SEB.

Both teams are Italian, and the match reflected the attitude of the players, so strong defence and zero risks. A conservative attitude, more inclined to avoid risks and exploit opponent mistakes and counter attacks. On this basis, most of the occasions are coming from passive kicks, like corners and especially free kicks. In both sides there are specialists on this, Zorzetto and Stella.

Zorzetto, cap. of the Blues, scored twice in the first half exploiting two free kicks. The first one is an incredible shoot from midfield, impossible for the however good Coimbra to stop it. Stella, on his side, reminded to Klein why the use of gloves is always useful for a goalkeeper. His shoots were quite strong and effective, especially the one after a corner that he transformed in goal.

First half closed 2-2. Equilibrated and fair till now, deserved score. The absence of Calorio and Gobetti are quite strong to decrease the opportunities for both teams.

Second half started in a more nervous way. Both teams felt the pressure, and were afraid to receive one goal. Goal that is coming from cap. Zorzetto, today almost superlative. One to one against a defender, he looked the angle on the left of Coimbra and shooted: 3-2. An explosion among SEB’s supporters, who were feeling the victory so near. That goal opened the most nervous part of the match. Tackles, discussions, and many faults obliged referees to give 6 yellow cards and 1 red in 15 minutes. Too much: it means players were more focused on a physical game than to create occasions.  During this tough moment, two leaders emerged in both teams:

Cyrille Martini (SEB). A lion everywhere in the field, stopping balls and legs, his aggressiveness and belief made the difference in the last and difficult minutes of the match. He also had two incredible occasions to score and close the match, but it seems that goal is not a matter for him. No problem, till Zorzetto may score for everyone. To underline the incredible decision of Mr. Carlo Liguori to let him go to SEB, a decision that let Martini to finally win something at his third tournament.

Massimo Stella (Ferrero). Without Calorio, he’s the leader of the
defence, closing spaces and avoiding unnecessary risks. All free kicks are on his responsibility (and on the gloves of Klein). In the last minutes he’s the most dangerous man of Ferrero, shooting from any position, creating a lot of occasions, obliging also cap. Zorzetto to a yellow card fault . Only an incredible Klein (neither the officla goalkeeper, a miracle evening for him) didn’t let him the pleasure of the draw.

The triple whistle of the referee gave the deserved and suffered victory to a team that any bookmakers has given for winner at the beginning of the season. Congratulations guys!

Final awards

1st classified: SEB

2nd classified: Ferrero

3rd classified: Sanpaolo

Top scorer: Giovanni Sequi (Sanpaolo)

Best goalkeeper: Maurizio “Spiderman” Pellegrini (Eurizon)

Fair Play: Castaldo (SEB), Calorio (Ferrero), Causine (Sanpaolo), Chorfi (PwC)