Tag: Football

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Leicester City claimed the Soccer Sevens for a second time defeating defending champions Aston Villa 3-0 in Sunday’s final at Hong Kong Football Club.

The tournament’s leading scorer 18 year-old Josh Eppiah scored twice, while Joshou Gordon was also on target as Leicester produced a dominant performance to add to their 2013 title.

Eppiah’s brace took him to eight goals for the competition, edging Villa’s seven-goal Harry McKirdy for the top scorer accolade. The forward was also named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player to cap an excellent three days.

“I’m over the moon and proud of myself. I took my chances well but the team and the staff around me have helped,” said Eppiah, who also scored twice in the 3-1 quarter-final win over West Ham United and once in the semi-final victory against Glasgow Rangers.

“This whole tournament has been amazing and I’d love to come back next year because I’m still a youngster and have more years to come back and do the same as I did today,” Eppiah added. “The boys fought, held on, came back and in the final we were all up for it so we came out and gave it everything we have.”

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Six-time winners Villa had impressed on the way to the final defeating Italian debutants Cagliari Calcio 3-0 in the last eight and French newcomers Olympique Marseille in the semi-final.

But Leicester had also looked strong over the weekend after winning all five of their games, and captain Hamza Choudhury’s man-marking of McKirdy in the final proved key as the Foxes nullified Villa’s main threat before running out deserved winners.

Runners-up in the previous two edition, West Ham enjoyed success this time around by lifting the Shield following a 2-0 victory over Cagliari in the final. After being eliminated by Leicester in the Cup quarter-finals, the Hammers dropped down to the Shield and returned to form to beat local side HKFA U-23s in the semi-final, before Joe Powell and Jaanai Gordon netted in the final against Cagliari.

Tournament debutants Bayer Leverkusen were crowned Plate champions as goals from Julijan Popovic and Berkan Arik helped claim a 2-1 win over Wellington Phoenix in the final. The German side defeated hosts Hong Kong Football Club and Kashima Antlers in the quarter- and semi-finals before seeing off the New Zealanders.

Citi All Stars retained their Masters Tournament title after Jamie Cureton scored his second goal of the game at the death to clich a dramatic 3-2 victory over Wallsend Boys Club in the final.

The match-winning strike capped an excellent weekend for the former Norwich City forward, who claimed the top scorer award with nine goals before being named the Masters Tournament MVP.

“We’ve played well throughout the entire tournament and from the second half [in the final] I thought we performed really well and deserved to win it,” said Cureton. “It’s my job to score goals, I didn’t expect to get as many as nine, but I’m very pleased. I came three or four years ago and we didn’t do very well, so I’m hoping the nine goals and winning will get me an invite again next year.”

Tournament debutants, and major disappointments, playonPROS won the Masters Shield after Emile Heskey scored a sublime free-kick to claim a 3-2 victory over Discovery Bay in the final.

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Additional reporting and images: HKFA Soccer Sevens

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Hosts HKFC Masters made the perfect start to the Soccer Sevens with wins over former finalists USRC and defending champions Citi All Stars in Group A at Hong Kong Football Club.

The hosts began with a 1-0 victory over 2016 runners-up USRC before returning to secure a hugely impressive win by the same margin against Citi All Stars to leave themselves in a strong position ahead of the two remaining group games on Saturday.

In Group B, tournament regulars Wallsend Boys Club opened with a resounding 5-1 victory over HKFC Chairman’s Select. Wallsend looked set to also end the day on six points, but former Cagliari Calcio forward Daniele Conti equalised for KCC Veterans in the final game of the night as the tie ended in a 1-1 draw.

“I think we were a bit sloppy. They played a good game and made it difficult for us, but I think we gave the game away,” said Wallsend forward Daniel McBreen, whose side are above Yau Yee League Masters on goal difference at the top of Group B, “We’re still confident. We’ll just go out there and do what we can do and enjoy ourselves along the way.”

Citi All Stars started strongly as former Norwich City forward Jamie Cureton opened the scoring against Discovery Bay, before former Portugal international Luis Boa Morte coolly rounded the goalkeeper to seal a 2-0 win.

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But the defending champions were unexpectedly beaten in their second game when HKFC Masters produced one of the performances of the night to leave the defending champions with much to do ahead of their remaining two group games on Saturday. “It was tough out there and we’re all tired,” said Citi All Stars’ former Glasgow Rangers defender Marvin Andrews. “But we’ll get better and we’ll lift the title again this year.”

Making their first appearance at a tournament, playonPROS started sluggishly as the Yau Yee League Masters caught them off guard to claim a 1-0 victory. But the side featuring former England internationals Emile Heskey, David James and Des Walker, as well as ex-Manchester United defender Mikael Silvestre and one-time Blackburn Rovers captain Colin Hendry hit back strongly with a 1-0 victory over HKFC Chairman’s Select to leave the side just a point off the top of the Group B standings.

“The second game went better than the first one,” said Heskey after scoring the winner against HKFC Chairman’s Select. “It was tough, it takes some getting used to with the weather and how to play on this pitch with just seven players. But we got to grips with it and I thought we did OK. We need to take our chances when we get them. In the first game we hit the woodwork twice, so I think we can score more goals.”

PlayonPROS sit a point adrift of the leaders and one ahead of KCC Veterans with HKFC Chairman’s Select propping up the standings having yet to get off the mark. Yau Yee League Masters, meanwhile, won one and drew one to end the day level on points with Wallsend at the top of the table.

Additional reporting and images: HKFA Soccer Sevens