2022 Barcelona Fives 5-a-side Football Tournament Tour Report Plate Final

Results

Club Esportiu Llefia (Spa)	0	v	0*	Polonia Limerick (Pol)
* Polonia Limerick won 6-5 on penalties.

The 2022 Barcelona Fives Plate Final would see Club Esportiu Llefia versus Polonia Limerick. With eight games of football already under their belt the two teams would need to summon one last burst of energy to ensure they would be picking up winners and not runners-up medals in the presentation.

Let's have a look at the two teams' credentials for the Plate title:

Club Esportiu Llefia (Spa)

Previous achievements: 2015 & 2021 Cup champions, 2016 Plate champions.

Record today: Played 7, Won 4, Drawn 2, Lost 1.

Goal difference today: 12-9

Current unbeaten run: 2 games.

Today's top goalscorer: Ivan Moreno Gomez (4)

Clean sheets: 2

Polonia Limerick (Pol)

Previous achievements: Debut

Record today: Played 7, Won 3, Drawn 1, Lost 3.

Goal difference today: 11-12

Current unbeaten run: 3 games.

Today's top goalscorer: Edward Przekwas (5)

Clean sheets: 1

So, where's your money? The statistics above favour the Spanish side and they were appearing in their fourth eurofootballfives.com and never lost. Polonia Limerick were on a fine run of form though and confidence was high. They had an entourage supporting them and had many other teams cheering for them as they had made a lot of friends today.

12 months ago, Polonia Limerick's friends AFC Blue Boys had reached the Plate Final – had drawn 1-1 only to finish runners-up after penalties. Could Polonia Limerick go one step further?

The stage was set, let's get the action underway. It was a very even contest and there was very little to choose between the two teams. It was perhaps no surprise that we reached half-time level at 0-0. As the game went on it looked increasingly like one goal would win it or we would need a penalty shoot-out to decide things. There were a lot of tired legs out there on a hot day and the pace of the game was slowing. Players going down with cramp summed up the final stages. It seemed the players were resigned to penalties before the referee blew for full-time.

Sergi Garcia Arguile would take the first penalty for Club Esportiu Llefia and he confidently converted. It would set the tone for a succession of great penalties. Edward Przekwas equalized for 1-1. Abel Mesas Cerrato and Francisco Lorenzo Gomez put CE Llefia 2-1 and 3-2 up. Dominik Olczak and Maksymilian Cyran levelled it at 2-2 and 3-3. We needed sudden death penalties.

Javi Cuadrado Ordonez continued the incredible penalties to make it 4-3. The goalkeepers had no chance with any of the spot kicks so far. Marek Zbroja scored for 4-4 before the goalkeepers had their chance from the penalty spot. Ramon Batet Segu, as cool as ever, made it 5-4. The Polish ‘keeper Marcin Polech was just as assured for 5-5. Club Esportiu Llefia had now exhausted their roster and so the teams could repeat penalty takers if they wished. Sergi Garcia Arguile then missed the target and handed a huge advantage to Polonia Limerick. Up stepped Miroslaw Kurzeja with the chance to make himself a hero. He made no mistake and the Polish got the party started.

First of all we offer our consolations to Club Esportiu Llefia on a fine campaign – they could not have got much closer to the Plate winners' trophy and making history (see Plate Semi-Final page). It was a pleasure to host the team for the 7th successive campaign. We hope to see them in 2023 for an 8th .

Let's finish here though with huge congratulations go to our 2022 Barcelona Fives Plate champions – Polonia Limerick. The first of many?

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