PENALTY SHOOT OUT: England 6-5 Ireland

Ireland had numerous opportunities to win the shoot out but kept missing the vital kick. England into the final, Mr Corcoran desolato.

SEMI-FINAL: Ireland 3-3 England

After a slow start, the match kicked into life when Oliver scored with a tap-in from a corner. But Ireland responded immediately when Leo met Jon's corner with his head, giving Lorenzo no chance. Ludo then hit a post before scoring a lucky goal two minutes later to send England in with a slender lead at half-time.
Early in the second half it was Jonny's turn to hit a post and then Oliver scored with a long shot to make it 3-1. Ireland rallied again though; from another Jonathan corner, Emilio struck with a powerful header to make it 2-3. Soon after it seemed that Ireland had equalised when Luca Cerri followed up another rebound off the post and bundled the ball over the line. Referee Corcoran (from Ireland!) confirmed the goal but then, with an admirable dose of fair play, Luca confessed to a handball and the goal was disallowed (are you reading Thierry Henry?). But life IS fair.. two minutes later, Luca found some space and blasted the equaliser. Penalty shoot out on Thursday morning, 11.00!
BEST PLAYER POINTS: Leo 7, Luca Cerri 4, Oliver 3, Jon 3, Tommaso 2, Emilio 2

Germany 6-0 Italy

Rocked by the recent match-fixing scandals and missing Max and Simone (in manette?), Italy floundered to a 6-0 defeat. Never in the game, the Italians nonetheless managed to keep the scoreline down to 2-0 (goals from Mattia, Alex)..........until Ale dB came out of goal and destroyed them with a well-taken hat-trick. David scored the sixth goal.
BEST PLAYER POINTS: Luca dV 8, Mattia 2, Alex H 2, Alex dF 2, Ale dB 2, Zahir 2, Lucas 1, Firat 1, David 1

Ambrit 5-7 New School

An indisciplined performance from Ambrit saw them deservedly lose to a better-organised team from New School who demonstrated that their 2nd place in the Mediterranean Cup was fully deserved. Francesco G put Ambrit 1-0 up with a casual flick and Oliver restored the lead with a well-placed shot after the visitors had equalised. New School drew level again and then took a 3-2 lead. As Ambrit lost all sense of team play, Salvatori took over the game completely and NS went 4-2  and then 5-2 ahead. Oliver scored a second to make it 5-3 but Toti made it 6-3.
Alex grabbed two late goals.
AMBRIT BEST PLAYER: Nobody.

HOLLAND 0-5 PORTUGAL

The Dutch, already qualified for the final, took to the field with only five players and they paid the price. An early brace of goals from Julia put the result beyond doubt and Anjali emerged later in the game to reinforce the Portugese superiority. Lavinia came out of goal and had an immediate impact, winning ball in midfield and capping off a good performance with a goal.
BEST PLAYER POINTS: Anjali 10, Lavinia 6, Joana 3, Valeria 1, Ginevra 1

ENGLAND 4-2 FRANCE

France was eliminated from the tournament in a match that showed up their weaknesses and highlighted the strengths of the English team and especially of Oliver, today's Man of the Match and currently top of the Best Player points table.
Ludo opened the scoring with a well-taken goal but brother Francesco equalised with an unstoppable shot. But the Gallo challenge continued with Ludo grabbing a second goal - a spectacular overhead kick that left the crowd gasping.
As the French tried to get back into the game, they were mercilessly prodded and exposed by the passing and movement of Oliver and it was Oliver himself who delivered the final blows to Robin's team. His two second-half goals were a just reward for a superlative personal performance and for an English team that seems to be hitting top form just before the semi-finals. Francesco Gallo's second goal was in vain and France will not be seen again this year.
BEST PLAYER POINTS: Oliver 9, Ludo 5, Tim 2, Idriss 1, Giovanni 1, Tommaso 1, Robin 1, Nicholas 1

IRELAND 1-0 SPAIN

Ireland confirmed their place in the semi-finals with a smooth performance which merited more than the final one-goal winning margin. The only goal was scored by Jonny after a neat passing movement involving Leo and Joshua.
BEST PLAYER POINTS: Emilio 4, Jonathan 4, Andrea Ooi 4,  Danyal 4, Alexis 1, Leo 1, Marco 1, Luca C 1, Joshua 1