International tournament PragaCup 2022 in Milovice was won by StarFucks from Slovakia, Prague’s LA Plate came second

Last Saturday, January 8, 2022, the January international small football tournament was held in Milovice at the Milten Sport Center, organized by the sports organization PragaCup. The tournament took place in a hall with artificial grass.

20 teams from all over the Czech Republic and Slovakia came to the tournament. It was the busiest tournament in the history of PragaCup since 2013. Teams were drawn into two morning and two afternoon qualifying groups, from which the top eight teams advanced to the evening superfinal.

There were a lot of interesting surprises at the tournament, for example, the Relax team, the world champions in small football, did not even advance from the basic group, the team of league footballers, Musketeers Čížová, for whom Jakub Podaný, Petr Janda and Martin Jirouš played, also dropped out in the basic group.

Chaberská Válec, the winner of the last PragaCup 2021 tournament, did not score a single goal and also finished in the regular group. FC Pražští Motáci, winners of the 2019 PragaCup, also finished in the regular group.

The international final was then played in Milovice. Czech Republic was represented by G.I.C. LA Plate and Slovakia by StarFucks. However, the winner of the January PragaCup tournament had to be decided by penalty kicks.

The smooth running of the tournament was ensured by an experienced organizing team headed by manager Lukáš Řezníček, who also provided professional referees with experience from the European Championships.

The first three teams took away valuable prizes:: a meter cup, a voucher for a set of jerseys in their own design, 3L bottles of alcohol, large cups, medals, etc.

“For me it was the most charged tournament in the history of PragaCup tournaments since 2013. The tournament was in the spirit of fair-play and in a friendly atmosphere. Nobody got seriously injured and all players enjoyed the tournament. I thank all players for their participation and for their great performances,” said the main organizer Lukáš Řezníček.

Group A

The group was full of newcomers, all teams were competing in the PragaCup tournament for the first time.

Group B

The teams FC Meliss and All Stars Hradec Králové were the winners. Very busy group.

Group C

Group of death, European champions, world champions in small football and a team from the 1st Hanspaul League. The team G.I.C. La Plate, who reached the final, and FC Romanians enjoyed the promotion. Surprisingly, the team of the world champions in small football Relax finished already in the preliminary group.

Group D

A very interesting group, the winner of the PragaCup tournament, two Milovice teams, a Slovak team and a newcomer from Prague. FC Flyers Jinonice advanced from this group and the future tournament winner StarFucks from Slovakia from the second place only thanks to a better score.

Quarterfinals

StarFucks defeated FC Lucián on penalties. FC Meliss clearly won against FC Rumaci. The G.I.C. La Plate players came back to win against All Stars Hradec Kralove. Flyers Jinonice advanced to the semifinals over Hoblin Jižák. In the semi-finals we saw beautiful and dramatic matches where little things made the difference.

Semifinal A

FC Meliss vs. StarFucks:: FC Meliss team was still leading 1::0 with 2 minutes to go, but still the Slovak team StarFucks was happy to advance and managed to turn the match around in the last minute, a thrilling spectacle.

Semi-final B

FC Flyers Jinonice vs. G.I.C. La Plate:: A very good and dramatic match, La Plate took an early 1:0 lead. Then FC Flyers Jinonice pushed a bit with their skilful young players. The goalkeeper J. Stehno kept La Plate on their toes by catching 100% of the opponent’s chances. Then Jindra Novotný (the best scorer of the tournament) punished the opponent with a quick break to 2::0 and La Plate kept the result.

The match for 3rd place

FC Meliss won the match against Flyers Jinonice on penalties and took home the prizes, cup and medals for 3rd place.

International final in Milovice:

Once again, a very dramatic match, tied by tactical instructions until the last second, and the winner of the PragaCup 2022 tournament in January had to be decided by penalty kicks. The title was finally won by the Slovak team StarFucks and the PragaCup metre traveling trophy goes to Slovakia.

“The PragaCup 2022 tournament in January was the busiest in its history since 2013, and its quality was equal to the Czech championship in small football! In order to develop the tournament further, we need to find a general partner. Unfortunately, the entry fee cannot cover all the costs if we want to maintain the very high quality of the tournament,” said Lukáš Řezníček at the end of the tournament.

Results:

1. StarFucks (Slovakia)
2. G.I.C. La Plate (Prague)
3. FC Meliss (Milovice)
4. FC Flyers Jinonice (Prague)
5-8:: FC Lucián, FC Rumáci, All Stars Hradec Králové, Hoblina Jižák

Best player:: Matěj Blažek (FC Flyers Jinonice)
Best scorer: Jindřich Novotný (G.I.C. La Plate)
Best goalkeeper: Martin Keller (FC Meliss)

“The next PragaCup tournament is scheduled for 25 June 2022, one week after the end of the football season. Registration is not yet open. The information will be published on PragaCup Facebook and Instagram soon,” said Lukáš Řezníček, chairman of the PragaCup organization.

STARFUCKS – Captain of the winning team Daniel Cvik

“We entered the tournament like last time with two draws. After that we thought we had no chance to advance. However, after a mutual draw in the penultimate match of our group we had a theoretical chance to advance, but we had to win by 3 goals.

We finally managed to do that and in the knockout fights we found a sort of talisman in the form of the distinctive jerseys we had to wear in every match and we eventually made it through each one. The funniest thing was that in order not to offend the lucky lady, we put the distinguishers on for the final match, even though it wasn’t necessary.

In the end, though, it may have given us a piece of the puzzle, which is definitely needed in tournaments like this. We are very happy with the average win in this tournament, especially with the quality of the teams and players that participated. We are already looking forward to future editions and we guarantee our participation, because just like PragaCup, we have grown to love Prague.”

Source: PragaCup