Denmark 2-1 Belgium

 The game got off to a fast start, Giovanni Z scoring with the second touch of the game when his well-struck ball took Leopoldo by surprise. Belgium equalised soon though, when Antonio F  - under severe pressure from the defence - kept his concentration to finish a Daniele assist. Denmark re-captured the lead in controversial circumstances. Referee Corcoran awarded a corner to the Danes and, with Belgium protesting that it should have been a kick-out, Lorenzo G got a near-post flick to put his team 2-1 ahead. Belgium had a golden chance to equalise in the second half when Antonio was chopped down in the box by Carlo. But Giovanni Z pulled off a good save from Daniele's penalty and Belgium's best chance was gone.

BEST PLAYER POINTS: Giovanni Z 5, Lorenzo G 4, Antonio F 4, Daniele 2, Luca 2, Sam 1, Carlo 1, Diego 1, Martino 1

BOYS SEMI FINALS

Four teams qualify for the semi-finals and line up as follows:

FRI MAY 31: Turkey versus Austria

WED JUN 05: Belgium versus Denmark

and the FINAL will be played on FRIDAY June 7th!

Germany 2 - 4 Austria

 Austria won this germanic derby with a fine display of crisp attacking football against a weakened team from Germany. After Antonio's well-worked opening goal early in the first half, Rocco banged in two more. The second of these came at the end of a lovely passing move involving James in midfield and Adriano on the left. Kevin had one good shot before half time but Aron saved well.

Germany re-grouped in the second half and Federico forced Aron into another save. The Germans played well but, in the Austrian defence, Simon was even better. He stopped attack after attack and played calm passes out of defence to his midfielders in wide positions. But Maverick did find a way through and he scored to give Germany some hope. Then Ashton forced his way past two defenders and blasted another one in to make it 3-2! But hopes were quickly quashed when Austria attacked at the other end and, following a goal-mouth scramble - went 4-2 up thanks to an unlucky own-goal.

BEST PLAYER POINTS: Simon 4, Rocco 3, Antonio C 2, Martti 2, Federico 2, Lucas P 2, Aron 1, Adriano 1, Kames 1, Ashton 1, Maverick 1, Kevin 1

Belgium 1-1 Turkey

 A lively game today saw the points shared between two teams who have already qualified for the SFs. Antonio had a couple of early chances in the first half but a combination of bad aim and good goalkeeping from Christian kept the score at 0-0. Luca tested Christian too but it was Belgium who took the lead when Claudio scored a trademark goal - a blistering shot from the heft that found the opposite corner of the goal: absolutely no chance for Leopoldo in goal. Turkey launched back into attack and Luca scored a fantastic equaliser when he ran onto a ball on the half-way line and fired home a shot low and hard to give a retreating Claudio no chance. Turkey almost stole the three points; Antonio spurned a good chance in the penalty area and Sam hit the bar with a great shot from the right.

BEST PLAYER POINTS: Luca 4, Claudio 3, Sam 2, Matteo 2, Antonio 2, Tancredi 2, Giulio R 2, Jacopo 2, Leopoldo 1, Christian 1 

Belgium 3-1 France

 The final score flatters Belgium beyond any measure of their less-than-total domination. After a quiet first half, Sam fired the Belgians into the lead when he was first to a ball palmed down by Matteo N off Antonio F's corner. France began the third period 0-1 down but Vittorio almost equalised immediately with a fiercely-struck shot from 30m out that only narrowly missed. Antonio F then tested Mostafa at the other end before Daniele made it 2-0. France kept playing though: Gabriele and Freddie were industrious and creative and the latter set up Diego A for a shot that went only slightly over the bar. Giovanni and Gabriele then combined well down the left and Gabriele poked the ball home to light a fuse of hope for the French. But it was not to be. With one minute left on the clock, Vittorio cleaned out Antonio F in the penalty area and the Turkish ace converted the penalty.

BEST PLAYER POINTS: Sam 4, Francesco 3, Freddie 3, Gabriele T 3, Antonio F 2, Daniele 2, Vittorio 2, Mostafa 1, Junio 1

Switzerland 2-1 Sweden

 Continua la marcia inarrestabile della Svizzera, che travolge anche un'ottima Svezia e si assicura il posto in finale, grazie alla sfortunata autorete di Zoe e all'eurogol di Erica. Inutile, ma pregevole, il gol finale di Sara P, oggi migliore in campo.

Veniamo al match: la partita viene gestita dalle Svizzere, che tengono palla e si muovono bene, ma senza diventare pericolose a causa di una Svezia molto attenta, che non molla su nessun pallone: Zoe, Caterina e Costanza, ben coordinate da Freydis in porta, non concedono grandi occasioni; Livia si mette in controllo di Erin e la partita sembra viaggiare verso il pareggio. Sul fronte opposto Sara P prova a sfondare con grinta, tentando spesso una delle sue serpentine, ma arrivare da sola nell'area avversaria è un'impresa, specie se Sara W si mette come ultima a spazzare tutto.

L'episodio che sblocca la gara è un calcio d'angolo di Erin, che Zoe colpisce con coraggio - come sempre - ma che finisce in porta. La delusione è palpabile e poco dopo arriva il raddoppio: su azioni insistita delle svizzere, Erica trova un gol bellissimo, con un destro che bacia la traversa ed entra in porta. Freydis è costretta agli straordinari su un paio di conclusioni di Erin e, sul fischio finale, finalmente arriva il gol meritatissimo della Svezia, proprio con Sara, che trafigge in contropiede il portiere.

PLAYER OF THE MATCH POINTS: Sara P 4, Sara W 3, Costanza 2, Erin 2, Erica 2, Zoe 3, Freydis 2, Sophie 1, Caterina 1, Livia 2, Sofia S 1, Suleyma 1, Amba 1, Sole 1, Jiayi 1.

France 5-2 Italy

 La Francia gestisce bene l'insidia italiana e guadagna meritatamente i tre punti, con un match giocato con attenzione e senza grandi rischi. Una doppietta di Vittorio nel primo tempo mette al sicuro il risultato, ma un rigore - poi trasformato da Aurora - riapre la partita. Solo per pochi attimi, in realtà, perché arriva la girata di Diego a spegnere gli entusiasmi delle ragazze e di seguito il 4-1 firmato da Lorenzo.

Gli ultimi minuti sono avvincenti, con l'Italia che accorcia le distanze con un bel gol di Erica, propiziato da un'incertezza difensiva e il gol finale di Lorenzo, anche lui molto ispirato oggi.

Da segnalare la prestazione eccellente di Freydis in porta, che ha parato tutto il parabile e...anche qualcosa in più!

PLAYER OF THE MATCH POINTS: Freydis 5, Lorenzo 4, Vittorio 2, Erin 2,  Francesco 2, Livia 2, Megan 1, Erica 1, Diego 1, Aurora R 1.

Denmark 3-3 Austria

 A thrilling comeback by Austria saw the game end in a 3-3 draw - a fair result in a match that neither team deserved to lose.

James played very well today and he opened the scoring with a well-taken goal to put the Austrians ahead. Denmark soon equalised though: Giovanni's free kick was saved by Aron but the ball fell to Antoine and this natural goal-poacher converted!

Boosted by this, Denmark continued to push forward; this time, Giovanni's pass found Antoine and his shot was saved by Aron but Max collected the rebound to score.

In the second half, Lorenzo shot wide early on and Aron made two more good saves. Adriano climbed well at a corner and looked to have scored but the Giovanni made a fingertip save and then Lorenzo scored on the break at the other end to put the Danes 3-1 up.

But Austria did not give up. James passed to Antonio C and his shot was unstoppable: 3-2! And then, with only seconds left, Lucas pounced on a loose ball to score the equaliser!

BEST PLAYER POINTS: Antoine 3, Aron 3, James 3, Sam 3, Giovanni Z 3, Max 2, Antonio C 2, Adriano 2

Malta 0-0 Croatia

 With both teams missing lots of players, the captains agreed to split the points.