Brno’s Royal Flush lost the shootout in the semi-finals and finished fourth at the EMF Euro Cup

The Czech representatives were the only ones who had no experience with European competition, yet they stood all the forecasts on their heads and went the furthest in Hajdúszoboszló, Hungary. The Brno-based Royal Flush team finished fourth in the EMF Euro Cup small-sided football tournament. All four Czech teams made it through to the knockout fights, RK Kafki Olomouc reached the quarter-finals, while BKMK Brno and Ostravský Zábřeh dropped out in the eighth round.

Royal Flush had a great tournament, but its players were the only semifinalists who did not take home medals. “Even with the short distance, we feel that it is a great achievement. Considering how many quality teams there are in the Czech Republic and how many of them were at the tournament, to be fourth in Europe is an incredible achievement,” said Radim Trbusek, the team’s captain.

Royal Flush had three penalty shootouts in the play-offs. In the eighth round they beat HNH Klausenburg from Cluj, Romania, and after a 3:3 draw they won the penalty shootout 2:1. He then knocked out Kafki Olomouc in the Czech battle, after a 4:4 draw followed by a 4:3 penalty shootout triumph.

“In the eight-final we were 1:3 down with a minute and a half to go and we made it, we were even 1:4 down with Kafki with thirteen minutes to go. It was such a victory for us that we equalised, mentally we were so high that we didn’t even allow ourselves to go out on penalties. We had a great psychological advantage over the opponent, who was rather broken,” reflected the Brno all-rounder.

His team failed to win the shootout in the semi-final, with the Romanian team Energi Friends Sighisoara winning 3:2 on penalty kicks after a goalless draw. “We all more or less take it that we got lucky in the eighth and quarter-finals. If we had managed a penalty shootout in the semi-finals for the third time in a row to advance, we would have wanted it badly. Partly we feel disappointed, we were not far from the final, we were just a little bit short of a medal,” Trbušek said.

The duel for the third place was clearly dominated by the Romanian team FC Boromir Valcea 5:1. “It also became apparent that we played the whole tournament with only three substitutes, and the quality of Boromir, who had thirteen players, was clearly evident. The difference between us just deepened so much that we couldn’t do anything, even though we tried our best, we got about two goals on the power play,” said the Brno captain.

Still, the Royal Flush team did much more than expected. The team advanced from the fourth place in Group A. “It was the first time we saw each other in such a line-up, some of the players didn’t even know each other personally. We were gathered from South Moravia from Kyjov to South Bohemia from Dačice. If there were odds on us, it would have been maybe 200 to win. We made the most out of the minimum,” Trbusek admitted. The final was purely Romanian and Energy Friends Sighișoara lost to Nova Vita Târgu Mureș 1::3.

Kafki Olomouc also played a great tournament. They finished third in Group C and made it to the top eight teams. “I think that in time we will say that it was a success. We are the second best Czech team in the tournament, which is great for us,” said Olomouc player Jan Omelka.

The Kafka team didn’t need much to get past Royal Flush in the quarterfinals. But they lost the lead by three goals and then failed in penalty kicks. “It could have been better when we were leading 3:0 and 4:1 in the quarter-finals, then it was on penalties, which are about luck,” Omelka said.

In the eighth round, Olomouc eliminated another Czech representative by beating Ostrava Zábřeh 3:1. “I was saying to the guys from Ostrava and Brno how unfortunate it is that we met in the spider. Unfortunately it was a given that whoever finishes third in the group goes to the second from the second group, so we went to Ostrava,” said the Olomouc player.

Ostrava’s Zábřeh had slightly bigger ambitions than to be among the top 16 teams in Hungary. “We definitely wanted more, at least the top four. Unfortunately, we fell out with the Czech team, but at least some of us went further. The fate has set it up like this, it’s hard to say whether we would have got through another team, all the teams had quality and in the play-offs it could be a one-goal game. We made two mistakes in the eight-final, we scored two goals and the game was over,” said Jakub Schmutz of Ostrava.

In Group D, Zábřeh finished second behind Boromir. “They finished third and were the toughest opponent to start with, we lost 1::4 deservedly. We won two games convincingly and drew with the Hungarians, which we could have won as well,” Schmutz reflected.

“We were 0:1 down, then we equalised when the goalkeeper hit a shot from behind the halfway line and it fell in with a lucky shot. Then we were playing with the goalkeeper out of the goal, but there was a pass to the middle, bad processing and the guy hit the empty from one touch. The third goal came across the pitch from the goalkeeper, we under-jumped the tackle, our keeper didn’t expect it and it went in off the bar. Olomouc then closed it down, defended well and it was tough. We got the goals after our mistakes,” admitted the Ostrava player.

The best chances from the Czech teams were given to the packed roster of BKMK Brno. However, they finished third in the regular Group B and were eliminated in the eighth round. “I cannot evaluate the performance in Hungary positively. It was a new experience for me, but we had it in our heads that we were going to win. The first game in the group went badly, we didn’t catch the start of the game and got a goal quickly.

We went into the second game with a completely different attitude and won 11-3. We managed the next match and secured our promotion from the group. In the last game we lost to a Slovak team, where we were a bit unlucky, because every shot we took was blocked by the opponents or bounced directly to the opponent and there was a break,” commented Brno defender Tomáš Zeman.

“The Montenegrins defended very well in the block and blocked many of our shots from the flanks, they played very strongly and aggressively, which made it difficult for us. We scored a goal to 0::1, we went into the second half thinking we couldn’t get to 0::2, but after three or four minutes of the second half we conceded. We opened up the game and started to play power play, we had a few shots from the side, but nothing went in. In the end we got a third goal into an empty net, then we reduced it to 1:3, but unfortunately we couldn’t do anything more,” regretted the Brno quarterback.

As usual, international confrontations also bring tense situations, which accompanied the play-off duels. “From the beginning of the match there were very tough fights and clashes, emotionally it was a difficult match because fair play did not mean anything to the players from Montenegro. The style of play was that you pass the ball to the opponent and he returns it, but after the goal we conceded and the Montenegrins tightened up a lot until such a half-shot on our goalkeeper, then the emotions were in place. Unfortunately we didn’t make the match and dropped out in the eighth round, so we are disappointed,” said Zeman.

Czech results at the EMF Euro Cup:

Energy Friends Sighișoara – Royal Flush Brno 2::2, Royal Flush Brno – Virgin Pulse Tuzla 2::6, Royal Flush Brno – Ankier Niedrzwica 4::2, Royal Flush Brno – AKMF Stupovi 4::4

Basic group B:: HNH Klausenburg Cluj – BKMK Brno 5::1, BKMK Brno – Farao Butor Nyíregyháza 11::3, BKMK Brno – Ben Dor Nesher 5::2, BKMK Brno – To-Day Hydokres Prešov 1::4

Basic group C:: Nova Vita Târgu Mureș – RK Kafki Olomouc 5::2, RK Kafki Olomouc – Fekcentrum 1::1, RK Kafki Olomouc – Kamenica Fun Cup Plovdiv 9::2, RK Kafki Olomouc – KS Browarek Varšava 1::3

Basic group D: FC Boromir Râmnicu Vâlcea – Ostravsky Zábřeh 4::1, Ostravsky Zábřeh – Valter-Grbavci 5::1, Ostravsky Zábřeh – Szilasi Es Baratai Budapest 1::1, Ostravsky Zábřeh – West Ham Altamura 8::1

Eight-finals:: RK Kafki Olomouc – Ostravský Zábřeh 3::1, Royal Flush Brno – HNH Klausenburg Cluj 3::3, on penalties 2::1, AKMF Stupovi – BKMK Brno 3::1

Quarterfinals:: Royal Flush Brno – RK Kafki Olomouc 4::4, on penalties 4::3

Semi-finals: Energy Friends Sighișoara – Royal Flush Brno 0::0, on penalties 3::2, Nova Vita Târgu Mureș – FC Boromir Râmnicu Vâlcea 1::1, on penalties 4::3

For 3rd place:: Royal Flush Brno – FC Boromir Râmnicu Vâlcea 1::5

Final:: Energy Friends Sighișoara – Nova Vita Târgu Mureș 1::3