Group B kicked off on Pitch C where World Pinteur and Polonia Limerick were in action. Both teams had already kicked off earlier in the day in the Veterans tournament and were both doing quite nicely so they would both have had optimism as the Open Age event began.

World Pinteur appeared here in Mallorca last season with 2 teams as Las Zacarenas and Los Froggies del Patron. Las Zacarenas gott off to a flyer with a 4-1 over Bayern Badonde before coming a hiccup against Urbansport '22 losing 3-0. They drew 1-1 against eventual Cup Finalists Lindfield A before getting back to winning ways against Squirrel Squad FC, 3-0. They secured a 0-0 draw with AFC Blue Boys 2 in the final group game to qualify for the Cup in third position in the group. They left the tournament at the Quarter-Final stage going down 2-0 to Luca Toni FC. Los Froggies Del Patron also got off to a flyer with a 6-0 win over Lindfield C and followed it up with a 0-0 draw against RSC Andylecht. A narrow 1-0 defeat followed to Malo Guerreros before returning with a thumping 5-0 win over Deportivo Dooradoyle. Defeat to Luca Toni FC in their final group game meant 4 th in the group and Plate qualification. They began the knockout phase with a 2-1 win over AFC Blue Boys A. Their day was ended in the Semi-Finals when Bayern Badonde secured a 2-1 win to reach the Plate Final.

On the pitch in 2023 the two teams cancelled each other out. The first half came and went with the scores locked together at 0-0. The second half also came and went with both defences on top – congratulations to the goalkeepers on their clean sheets. Final score, 0-0.

In Game 2 we had Urbansport versus Relentless FC.

At the 2022 Mallorca Fives a very competitive Group A saw the top 5 of 6 teams separated by just 2 points. Urbansport started off with 6-0 and 3-0 wins over Squirrel Squad (Eng) and Las Zacarenas (Fra) they suffered two defeats 1-2 to Bayern Badonde (Eng) and 0-1 to AFC Blue Boys (Pol). A 1-1 draw with Lindfield FC A saw them finish 4 th and qualify for the Plate.They were back to winning ways 4-0v Deportivo Dooradoyle (Ire) and 4-1 v Pinkneys Green FC) to set up a final against Bayern Badonde. The two teams played out a 1-1 draw before the English team secured victory on penalties.

The Spanish side appeared to be on top form today as they raced into a 3-0 lead with Thiago scoring all 3 goals. A hat-trick is not a bad way to start the day! In the second half Matias (4-0), Dani (5-0), Franklin Drosco (6-0) and Maxi (7-0) all put their names on the scoresheet.

It was a perfect start for the Spanish, a tough start for the English.

The last team to get their campaign underway was Ecuador 100%. You could say we left the best until last as they were the defending champions. They met Polonia Limerick who drew 0-0 with World Pinteur in their first game.

Last year in the group phase they were imperious with 5 wins out of 5 scoring 18 goals and conceding just 1 in the process. In the Cup Quarter-Finals they swept aside RSC Andylecht 5-1 and then Ireland's Alabama Hotpockets were sent packing 5-0 in the Semi-Final. The Cup Final proved to be a tough encounter as they were level with Lindfield FC 1-1 until two quickfire goals at the end of the second half ensured they would be champions again.

In fact, Ecuador 100% were unbeaten in 16 games in our tournaments. It was a run that stretched back to September 2018 when they lost in the Cup Final to Bar Maruru. It was a run that was about to end and showed just what a magnificent performance this was from Polonia Limerick.

The two teams were level at half-time (0-0) but Polonia Limerick scored in the second half through Kuba Domanski which set-up a thrilling finale. Ecuador 100% threw everything at the Polish team and the Polish team threw everything into defending their lead. They put their bodies on the line as they blocked shots and made last ditch tackles. It was a hugely impressive rearguard action and they managed to see the game out and pull off a magnificent 1-0 win. What a win!

The game that took us to the halfway stage of Group B was to be Relentless FC versus Ecuador 100%. Both teams were looking to avenge opening game defeats. That's something we didn't expect to be saying about Ecuador 100% who were bidding for a historic third title in a row.

Their defeat to Polonia Limerick had come as a shock which could only mean bad news for Relentless FC as Ecuador 100% would be desperate to get back to winning ways and re-establish their title credentials. The English team's confidence must have taken a hit having lost 7-0 to Urbansport last time out so a wounded Ecuador 100% would not have been their fixture of choice as a chance to bounce back.

The Ecuador 100% team were ruthless as they surged to a 5-0 lead with goals from Jose Mosquera (x3), Jon Valencia and Meteo Paz before football became a secondary concern.

One of the Relentless FC players collapsed with no-one near him and so full concern was given to the effected player. Ecuador 100% and the referee were great in putting him in the recovery position whilst we called the tournament medic and also an ambulance in case further medical help was required. Fortunately, the player was conscious shortly after and with some fluids and food intake and he was soon getting back to normal. He was checked over by the medic and the ambulance crew and given the all clear.

We called time on the game which was initially recorded as 5-0. Relentless FC then needed to withdraw so, to be fair to all other teams in the group, we would record all results against Relentless FC as 3-0.

* Relentless FC had to withdraw due to injuries so, to be fair to all teams in the group, all matches against Relentless FC would be recorded as 3-0.

Open Age

(For the Veterans, click introduction and then select the relevant Veterans section)