Finals and Closing Ceremonies

While the ultimate goal for any tournament for both teams and referees is to reach the finals, just because you do not make it does not make the tournament a disappointment or anything less than what it would be otherwise. I have had the chance to meet numerous teams during the week in addition to all the referees, and the vast majority were not on the field during the finals, but almost all were in the stands cheering voraciously. The presentations on Friday night by Bobby Madley and Peter Frodjfelt was a great way to end the week, but the closing ceremonies and final matches were a great way to end the tournament. The 80 odd referees who did not get assigned to any finals took full advantage of the free morning and all decided to go out that night. It turned into 30 some referees at 5:00am wandering the streets of Estoril, but we had a good time and it was great to spend a last bit of time with the referees who I have come to know so well. 

Finals day itself was a scorching 41 degrees, and while the finals were scheduled to end at 1:30, a kerfuffle with the busses had them finishing at 5, right in the heat of the day. The opening match of the day was the Under 17 girls final. It presented Athletico Madrid against a Portuguese squad, refereed by the Swedish girls with Linda Lindskog in the middle. Athletico Madrid set out to prove their dominance and demonstrate what a strong team they were. They ended up winning 5-1, and Pongyi (Hungarian Referee) and I celebrated the win with them, taking pictures with the trophy and getting his Athletico Madrid flag signed. We also did the same with the American Under 17 girls from Wisconsin, but it did not go nearly as well when they realized that Pongyi was in fact the referee that had ejected their coach from a match earlier in the tournament. While the girls didn't care, the coach didn't seem to like Pongyi blowing kisses to him while chatting to his team.

The next match was the Under 15 match between two Spanish sides. To get to the finals, these teams had beaten giants such as Athletico Madrid, Sporting Lisbon, Southampton, Zenit, and multiple other professional teams. The referee team was a Canadian group, which was great to see our local referees do so well. It was headed by Maxime Belileu from Quebec, lined by Nova Scotian brothers Travis and Chad Levebre, and also features Lucas Pamatat from Ontario. The match was very good, but had the most puzzling sequence of events I have ever seen. The orange team possessed the ball at about midfield and unbeknownst to them, a blue player was hurt around midfield. A couple passes later, they had put the ball in the back of the net, and the blue coach was outraged. Etiquette would say that when there's an injury you put the ball out, but there is nothing wrong with not doing so, and the lawbook says play on. After the restart, the Orange team must have been feeling a bit sheepish as they allowed the blue striker to walk uncontested to the goal and put it in, effectively erasing the deficit. I have never before seen something like this, and all of the referees were puzzled. The best part about this sporting behavior, is that the team allowing the own goal, then lost the match by one goal. 

Under 13s featured powerhouses Sporting Lisbon against Athletico Madrid, and what a good fixture it was. The match was done by referee Jeremy Lensink from Holland, nicknamed 007 for the fact that the last thing he did before leaving the dressing room was comb his hair and put hair gel in it. He commanded an excellent game with the help of his Dutch team, and the final was 2-2, leading to penalties which Athletic Madrid won in the 6th round of shots. 

Finally, the showcase match, the Under 16 final pitched professional team Chivas Guadalajara from Mexico against Amunike FC from Nigeria. The game was fast paced and was refereed by some of the best in the tournament , headed my Matt Mcdermid from Scotland. The game was in front of around 2500 people and was broadcast on national TV. After the game, I had a chance to do some referee badge, pin, and coin swapping with the other foreign referees. The last day was a great time, with cheerleaders, awards, and music, the atmosphere was phenomenal. Finally it was time to say good bye and swap contact information with the people that I have become so close with over the last few weeks. 

I have now checked into my hotel where I will spend a couple last days in Lisbon before returning home. It was so refreshing to have a hot bath after only cold showers for 2 weeks, and to sleep in a room without a symphony of alarms in the morning, and rest my head on a pillow, not a pile of clothes. I slept 13 hours the first night after averaging about 5 hours a night during the week. It was without a doubt worth it, and I would do it again in a heartbeat (I will). I will at some point while I am here write up a post examining the difference between football here and soccer back home. I will also write a post reviewing my experience with tournaments abroad, and assisting my readers in creating experiences like this, while providing feedback for the organization. 

What an experience

Kevin