Equal parts excitement, joy, and disappointment abounded in the morning session of the first knockouts rounds of the MICFootball Punta Cana.
The first rounds of the final and consolation rounds have filled the thirteen fields of Cap Cana Sports City (Dominican Republic). All the teams want to do their best to achieve the glory that would come with winning the first edition of the MIC out of Spain.
U12
The big favorites will be the stars of the semifinals this Saturday. In the first, FC Barcelona and Porto will play to seal their place into the final. In the two quarterfinal matches, it was a no-contest match. 7-0 victories against Team ISL and Barça Academy RD. In the other semifinal, a duel between Real Madrid and The Soccer Lab. The Whites had a good time against FC23NXTERAFOOTBALL, whom they defeated 8-3. The Soccer Lab defeated Turín El Salvador 503 by 3-0, a result that gives them the opportunity to play this Saturday to reach the final.
In this category, only one match went to penalties. It was the quarterfinal between Barça Academy RD Blau and Catala FC Academy Blau, who had tied 1-1. The former won the shootout 3-2.
U13
Liga Deportiva Alajuelense of Costa Rica and Club América of Mexico will play to be the finalists in the U13 category. After two very close semifinals, the Costa Rican team defeated Fútbol Consultants on penalties (7-6 and 0-0 in regulation time), while the Mexicans defeated Got FC with a solitary goal from Santiago Márquez. In contrast, River Plate and CD Plaza Amador demonstrated their superiority by winning the quarterfinals 4-0 against Inter Miami and Galácticos Soccer Academy. Giovanni Frontela (River) and Jacop Linares (Plaza Amador) each scored doubles to qualify their teams.
The consolation semifinals will pit Halcones SD against Selección Interbarrial on one side and Barça Academy RD against Proyecto JDB on the other.
U16
Santos will be one of the teams in the semifinals, after beating Barça Academy RD 2-0. The Dominican team had won the previous qualifying round 4-3 against Highlights FC. The Brazilians will face Guayas FC. The Ecuadorian team forced penalties against Cruz Azul, one of the favorites to win the championship trophy, and beat them on penalties (4-1) after a 1-1 draw in regulation time. On the other side of the draw, Atlético de Madrid comfortably qualified for the semifinals, defeating Punta Cana FC (2-0). A place in the final will be difficult, as the red-and-whites will have to beat South Florida FA, who defeated Real Romana 6-0 with a brace from Andrew Neves.
Downtown Soccer Academy, Proyecto JDB, Califa Elite Program, and Nexgem Union Academy will compete to be crowned champions in the consolation round.
All U14 and U15 competitions are playing their matches this Friday afternoon to advance to the final and consolation draws. The matches can be followed on MICFootball TV (www.micfootballtv.com).
