Malta 1-1 Croatia

 With a lot of absences today, Malta generously allowed Croatia to borrow Freydis and Livia and the two guest players turned out to be crucial, helping in no small measure to deny Malta the three points (Livia & Freydis not eligible for 'Best Player' points). Both Aurora R and Angela tested Freydis in the first half, but the Ambrit No. 1 responded well. She was helpless though when Malta did score just before half time, Aurora's strong free-kick coming through a forest of legs in front of her. Croatia equalised in the second half: after her earlier shot was well saved by Aurora A, Livia didn't miss her second chance, driving the ball home from the right.

BEST PLAYER POINTS: Aurora R 3, Chloe 3, Gracie 3, Megan 2, Lavinia 2, Emma 2, Carla 1, Aurora A 1, Una 1

Belgium 1-3 Austria

 A quiet opening period came to an abrupt awakening when Austria stitched together a neat first goal: Gabriele F won the ball and passed to Antonio C; Antonio played in Rocco and Rocco finished it off. In period 2, Adriano was close with a header and then a Lucas P corner found its way to the net via Rocco's head: 2-0. Both teams then wasted good free kicks, Antonio C kicking over for Austria, Antonio F replying in kind for Belgium. Austria went 3-0 up after 2' of period 3, José scoring an own-goal as he tried to clear his lines. Daniele brought his team back into the game with a well-taken goal, turning quickly on a ball to fire home from the left. But Austria parked the bus for the last few minutes and Belgium never came near.

BEST PLAYER POINTS: Antonio C 7, Gabriele F 3, Rocco 3, Sam 2, Antonio F 1, Daniele 1, Adriano 1, Simone 1, Simon 1, Lucas P 1

ACLI League: Ambrit 1-1 Santa Maria Assunta FC

Before the match, a quick glance at the league table would have shown you that today's opponents - one of the older fuori classifica teams - was second in the table with 18 points out of a possible 21. And the Ambrit players suffered a heavy 9-1 defeat in their previous encounter!

But today, Ambrit started the match positively: well-organised and tactically aware, looking to avoid their biggest defender and swarming over their opponents as soon as they crossed teh half-way line. There were chances for each side but SMA’s big number 16 managed to score a header to give the visitors the lead. But Ambrit kept playing good football; Dylan was fouled repeatedly but his work in midfield opened up spaces in front and Daniele almost scored more than once, their keeper making great saves. At the end of the first half Gabriele made a spectacular save too, tipping the ball over the crossbar from a free kick.

In the second half, Ambrit upped their game even more and dominated possession. Dylan made good runs off the ball, drawing defenders to the side to make space for Kevin and Daniele and luring their big captain out of the way. Dylan scored with 10 minutes remaining and Ambrit stayed solid at the back to earn a very tough point. Great defending from Giovanni, Vittorio, Martino and Adriano.

France 0-1 Germany

 Not a top quality game today but we did get some excitement towards the end. In the first half, there was no real action, no real chances; one half-decent shot from Diego A which was ably dealt with by Martti. In the second half, things did liven up. Maverick tested Mostafa in goal; Mostafa saved well. Kevin tested Mostafa in goal; Mostafa saved well. Ashton had a great chance but shot high but then Maverick made all the pressure finally tell; his first shot was well saved by Mostafa but he followed up to score. Maverick almost scored a second but shot wide and then he thought ha had scored a second with a great header from a corner, but VAR ruled out the goal because the corner was kicked from an illegal position! Germany continued to press - Lorenzo L was next to have a shot saved by Mostafa and France found it difficult to get forward. When they did, Diego A did a great job of winning possession, holding possession and bringing team mates into the game. Giovanni V managed to get a shot in but, again, Martti was comfortable.

BEST PLAYER POINTS: Maverick 4, Diego A 3, Ashton 3, Erik 3, Martti 2, Mostafa 2, Francesco 1, Kevin 1, Vittorio 1, Lorenzo L 1

Switzerland 1-0 Sweden

 La Svizzera 🇨🇭 continua il suo percorso netto, con 3 vittorie su tre, battendo una buona Svezia 🇸🇪 .

Ancora una prestazione solida di Erin, autrice della rete-vittoria, ma stavolta la vera giocatrice da fermare è stata Erica, davvero imprendibile a tratti. Sul versante opposto ottima partita di Livia, presente e combattente in ogni angolo del campo, qualche sprazzo di classe da parte di Sara P, vicina al gol con uno slalom dei suoi. Sempre molto solide e affidabili Sara W, Alessandra e Sophie. Da segnalare la buona prestazione di Zoe, più volte pericolosa dalle parti di Maria.

PLAYER OF THE MATCH POINTS: Erica 4, Erin 3, Livia 3, Zoe 2, Maria 2, Freydis 2, Sara P 1, Sara W 1, Alessandra 1, Sophie 1, Caterina 1.

Belgium 2-2 Denmark

 The opening goal was a low and fiercely-struck shot from Giovanni Z but, following the Denmark player's red card, Antonio equalised from a free kick and then put Belgium ahead with a good finish under pressure. Five goals in five days for Antonio. Belgium almost had the three points in the bag but then, when Antoine tried to collect a high ball in the box, he was fouled by Luca Tommaso and Lorenzo converted the penalty.

BEST PLAYER POINTS: Antonio F 4, Lorenzo G 3, Luca T 3, Daniele 2, Sam 2, Giovanni Z, Adrian 1, Ryan 1, Martino 1, Max 1, Antoine 1, Edoardo 1

RISA friendly: Ambrit 4-1 Lycee Chateaubriand

 After conceding an early goal, Ambrit took control of the match. An in-form Antonio F - looking to nail down a starting place for MedCup - slotted home a har-trick and ACLI captain Francesco added another.

TEAM: Gabriele, Francesco, Antonio F, Kevin, Adriano, Dmitrii, Nicolas, Aurora

Italy 0-2 Austria

 A well-judged lob from James in period 1 and an unstoppable shot into the bottom corner from Gabriele in period 2: two goals that were enough to take the three points to Vienna. But Italy, again, played well and deserved to get something out of the match. Aurora won countless tackles in midfield, Erin made countless runs from box to box, Naila stopped attack after attack.

BEST PLAYER POINTS: Aurora R 3, Erin 3, Naila 2, Livia 2, James 2, Gabriele F 2, Simon 2, Antonio C 1, Alvaro 1, Maeve 1, Rocco 1, Adriano 1,   

Malta 1-0 Sweden

 La vittoria di misura di oggi permette a Malta 🇲🇹  di portarsi a pari punti con la Svezia 🇸🇪  e di rimettere equilibrio nel campionato: le formazioni di oggi, infatti, sono appaiate a 3 punti alle spalle della corazzata elvetica.

Le formazioni si sono presentate in campo con due assenze pesanti: da un lato la capitana svedese, Sara e dall'altro il portiere maltese Aurora. Lo spettacolo è stato godibile ed equilibrato, fino al gol di Aurora, un diagonale dalla lunga distanza, che è sfilato tra tante gambe e ha sorpreso la brava Freydis.

La Svezia, senza Sara, aveva un po' di difficoltà nel creare occasioni pericolose e Malta ha suggellato la vittoria con un paio di belle occasioni, di Angela e della stessa Aurora, neutralizzate bene da Freydis.

Bene la difesa maltese, con una prestazione convincente di Carla e Gracie, buono anche l'apporto di Chloe, coraggiosissima a rientrare in campo, dopo un terribile fallo subito.

Dal lato svedese, ottimo come al solito il contributo di Livia, ben supportata da Jiayi e Zoe a centrocampo, bene la difesa con Naila, Caterina e Sofia.

PLAYER OF THE MATCH POINTS: Aurora R 4, Livia 3, Freydis 2, Carla 2, Naila 2, Angela 1, Zoe 1, Jiayi 1, Gracie 1, Chloe 1, Caterina 1, Sofia 1.

France 2-2 Denmark

For Denmark, Max started strongly today and was unlucky to see two shots from close in going just wide. For France, it was Giovanni V who had the first chance after receiving a pass from Lorenzo I. Diego A almost opened the scoring but Giovanni Z got back to clear the ball off the line. Denmark then went ahead, Max's hard work paying off as he scrambled the ball over the line for a messy goal. With France still reeling, Lorenzo G took advantage with a shot from the left that was cleverly left by Max to creep into the corner for 2-0. Vittorio C had two chances to narrow the score before the break but one was saved, one went wide. France sorted out their problems at the break though and Lorenzo I scored a lovely individual goal to make it 2-1 and he then followed up to bury Diego A's assist for 2-2. Both teams wanted all three points, but it was Denmark who had the best chances towards the end. Diego I hit the post and Lorenzo G had a good shot saved by Freydis.

BEST PLAYER POINTS: Lorenzo I 6, Diego A 4, Giovanni Z 3, Max 2, Lorenzo G 1, Vittorio 1, Diego I 1, Antoine 1, Francesco 1, Adrian 1

ACLI league: Ambrit 3-1 OMC

Today's match started with Ambrit continuously attacking and creating several opportunities, even hitting the crossbar. Finally, two minutes before the end of the first half, relentless pressure culminated with Adriano chesting down the ball down and shooting past the defender, only to see another opponent clear it off the line! Bit never fear, Dylan followed up and tucked home the rebound. 

The second half began with OMC trying to pull back into the game and they managed to get more possession and stay on the offensive, but Gabriele in goal was secure and determined and saved Ambrit's lead several times. However, after many shots, the ball did go in off the crossbar to level the score and set up another nail-biting finish! Ambrit reacted quickly though, bouncing back into attack and a one-two between Dylan and Adriano saw Adriano's finish put Ambrit back into the lead. After a few more shots from each side, Francesco broke free and played a lovely pass to Adriano who, in form today, controlled it, set up the shot and placed it into the opposite corner of the goalkeeper to seal today's victory.

Germany 0-2 Belgium

 Germany started stronger today but their effort petered out later on, with Belgium striking twice to take home the three points. Federico played Maverick in for an early chance but Zain made an excellent save. The crowd was still gasping when Zain pulled off another stop, this time blocking Kevin's shot. Germany followed up with another chance but, this time, Maverick's header came back off the crossbar. Maverick had another headed chance in the second period but this one went just wide. After all that, it was Belgium who took the lead. Captain Martino passed to Sam and Sam took off on a run that took him diagonally past three opponents before his well-placed reverse shot beat the goalkeeper at the far post. This was the crown on an amazing performance by Sam today. He was everywhere - tackling strongly, passing accurately, shooting on target. Antonio was also having an excellent game for Belgium in midfield, providing the energy to stop the German advances and turn them into threatening Belgian attacks. And, when Nicholas was yellow-carded for a foul on Sam, it was Antonio who fired the resulting free-kick into the back of the net.

BEST PLAYER POINTS: Sam 8, Antonio 4, Maverick 3, Zain, 2, Erik 1, Federico 1, Leopoldo 1, Martino 1

Switzerland 2-1 Croatia

 Una partita combattuta e bellissima, vinta meritatamente da una Svizzera 🇨🇭  a punteggio pieno, contro una buona Croazia 🇭🇷 ancora a zero nel punteggio ma con la consapevolezza di potersi rialzare.

La fisicità di Erin, con la tecnica di Erica e Alessandra a centrocampo, l'intensità di Sophie e l'ottima difesa di Sara W: questi gli ingredienti che hanno permesso alla Svizzera di vincere il match. Dal lato croato non sono bastate le folate offensive di Margherita e Lavinia, né l'aggressività di Clotilde, ottima anche nel ruolo di portiere, né le buone prestazioni difensive di Una e Anna.

Tutto è accaduto nel secondo tempo: una punizione-bolide di Erin, pronta a insaccarsi in rete, viene fermata da Margherita con le mani. Inevitabile giallo e rigore, trasformato dalla stessa Erin con freddezza. Passa un minuto ed Erica, su azione personale, fa 2-0. Sarebbero addirittura tre se il tiro di Erin, direttamente da calcio d'angolo, non centrasse il palo... La reazione della Croazia non si fa attendere e Margherita accorcia le distanze con uno scatto che brucia tutti e inganna il portiere. Il tempo però è agli sgoccioli e la Svizzera controlla il finale senza grandi preoccupazioni.

PLAYER OF THE MATCH POINTS: Erin 4, Alessandra 4, Erica 3, Sophie 3, Margherita 2, Una 2, Lavinia 2, Clotilde 2, Sara W 2, Anna 1, Megan 1, Suleyma 1, Greta 1.