France 2-1 Sweden

With last season's Top Scorer (Sam) and Best Player (Ramnath) in their ranks, Sweden were favourites to win this one today but Guerrino's French team pulled off a gutsy win.
Ale Z put les bleus ahead after 6 minutes when a defensive mistake put him through and Michael was slow to close him down. Ale should have made it 2-0 seconds later he shot over. France then paid the price when Manfredi slotted home an equaliser.
In the second half, Sweden almost went ahead. A neat passing move starting from Tristan, went through Noah and finished up at Sam but he missed the shot. Sam then put Noah in but Peter tipped the shot over. The French defense was solid, thanks also to brilliant displays from Raffaella and Celeste.
With only seconds to go, Francesco turned on a ball and volleyed an unstoppable shot into the opposite corner from the edge of the area.
BEST PLAYER POINTS: Francesco R 9, Pietu 2, Ramnath 2, Noah 1, Sam 1, Tristan 1, Guerrino 1, Alessandro 1, Francesco C 1, Peter 1, Manfredi 1

Ambrit Boys Come Second in January Tournament

Ambrit entered a G5 and G6 team in today's tournament at Ambrit Stadium.
The G5 team played with a lot of spirit and held their older rivals from G6 to a 1-0 win. Lapo scored the winning goal.
G6 had started the morning off with 0-2 loss to St. George's and, quite frankly, they played badly. It should have been a higher score but Peter played really well.
But they made up for it later!
Buoyed by their derby win, they then dismantled an older team from Southlands with three goals from Manfredi, Nathan and then Manfredi again with a stunning lob over the goalkeeper from 30 meters out: un capolavoro! Nathan had a fantastic match. He teased his opponents with the ball, dragging them out of position and then delivered his killer passes.
This win put them into the final against St George's and they played much, much better than in the earlier match. Aden played a stormer in defence again and, at the end, just one goal separated the teams.
TEAM: Peter; Federico, Aden, Bernardo; Lapo, Nathan, Alessandro; Manfredi, Lucrezia 

Ireland 2-0 Spain

Favoured by a lacklustre Spain and an Irish referee, Finian's team scored two goals in the first half which were enough to capture the three points.
Sasha scored the first, Zeno the second and, despite a lot of well-intentioned huffing and puffing, the game was devoid of other highlights.
BEST PLAYER POINTS: Ascanio 5, Taro 4, Zeno 3, Edo R 3, Sasha 2, Thomas 1, Finian 1, Aden 1, Alex 1

Germany 3-1 Portugal

World Champions Germany overcame their Iberian opponents by dominating possession, taking their chances and defending very well.
Lucie put Lucrezia through for the opening goal and Jaan put Lucie through for the second.
Gaia could have pulled one back before half time but Beatriz made a great save.
Lucrezia practically killed off the game with a quick goal just after half time but Portugal, to be fair, never gave up.
After near misses from Mia (wide), Ginevra (wide), Gaia (over), Ginevra again (over), it was Celeste who finally scored the consolation goal. At the other end, Germany continued to attack and Helena came closest to a fourth goal.
BEST PLAYER POINTS: Lucrezia 4, Gaia 3, Lucie 3, Ginevra 2, Beatriz 2, Grace 2, Giulia 2, Celeste 1 , Lea 1, Juna 1,

Italy 2-1 France

The first half was a stormer and Italy should have scored, but Peter in the French goal made a series of five excellent saves to keep them out - two from Lapo, two from Niccolo' and one from Nathan. Then, in the time honoured tradition of gol mancato, gol subito, Italy were caught napping on a corner and Francesco R nipped in at the near post to put France 1-0 up.
Italy finally equalised in the second half when Gabriele made space for a shot and kept it low past Peter. Francesco R was unlucky not to restore his side's lead, but his well-struck shot came thumping back off the post.
Italy then stole the points when Nathan dribbled through the middle of the French defence and shot home.
BEST PLAYER POINTS: Peter 5, Jacopo 4, Francesco R 4, Lapo 3, Nathan 2, Gabriele 1, Guerrino 1, Bernardo 1

Teachers 2-0 Grade 8

The teachers maintained their 100% record with their third victory of the week. Against a strong-looking G8, Mr. Kisling broke the deadlock. He collected the ball with his back to goal, turned well, drifted past two defenders and scored low into the opposite corner: textbook stuff.
Noah Gallo had his team's first real chance when he found space on the right but Mr. Griffiths closed him down quickly. Sasha too made a good chance for himself. He cut inside and unleashed a good shot but Ms. Cianni got her body bravely in the way. Sasha then headed past his own goalkeeper and his team was in trouble.
But G8 had a glimmer of hope when Ms Cianni handled in her own area. Sam stepped up to take the penalty. He placed it well but Mr 'Cat' Blake sprang explosively to his right and pulled off a fantastic save.
Noah had another chance from the left late on but Mr Blake saved this one too and the teachers wrapped up the win.
BEST PLAYERS: Mr Blake; Sasha

Transfer Market: 2

The girls got their chance to spend some money today and, not surprisingly, Lucrezia fetched the highest price at 68 million: see Teams page for all the news.

Germany	Portugal	England
Jaan	Fatou	Eilidh
Beatriz	Marcela	Antonella
Lea	Chiara	Leila
Juna	Grace	Yara
Lucrezia	Ginevra	Raffaella
Giulia	Mia	Margarida
Lucie	Celeste	Matilde
Helena	Gaia	Allison
	Saya

Transfer Market

After an exciting January transfer window which saw Sasha being bought for a record price of 71 million euro, Francesco R for 40m and Gabriele for 30m, the teams are now all set for the Spring Intramural: see calendar page. Goalkeepers Ascanio (37m) and Peter (30m) were also expensive buys and each of the captains will be looking to their new star players to shine!

Italy	Ireland	France	Spain	Sweden
Jacopo	Finnian	Guerrino	Alex	Giovanni
Matteo	Zeno	Matthew	Nicholas	Tanner
Max	Edo J	AnZhe	Thomas	Pietu
Lapo	Tiberio	Bernardo	Edo P	Manfredi
Federico	Falco	Francesco R	Jerry	Ramnath
Gabriele	Aden	Francesco C	Taro	Michael
Nathan	Sasha	Peter	Ascanio	Noah
Niccolo’	Andrew	Alessandro	Laith	Sam
Giuseppe			Edo R

Teachers 4-0 Grade 7

The first chance of the game fell to Mr. Kisling and his reverse shot went just wide. Edo R then had a chance at the other end but Mr Leavy blocked him well on a narrow angle.
Mr. Blake's pace is always a formidable weapon and he used it to good effect to put the teachers ahead. The teachers then made it 2-0 before half time; Miss Cianni's quick feet controlled the ball with one touch and shot to the back of the net with a second touch before any of the students knew what was happening.
Thomas Griffiths was unlucky not to score after a tremendous run across the teachers' defence; his curling shot struck the post and went wide. The teachers though continued to pile on the pressure; Mr. Max directed a header to goal but Mr Piccolo deflected it over the bar. Mr. Max was on form though and rolled the third goal in with a neat finish to the bottom corner. Mr Blake broke away again and finished clinically to score the fourth.
BEST PLAYERS: Francesco Carrocci; Miss Cianni  

Teachers 2-0 Grade 6

The teachers dominated possession but could not score. Under pressure from late call-up Mr Calento, the G6 goalkeeper bundled the ball into his own net for the first goal.
Mr Piccolo's clever corner bounced in off the near-post defender to make it 2-0.
BEST PLAYERS: Miss Westelaken; Manfredi