Mumbai: Conscient World Cup 2018 made an overwhelming impact in the first week of the tournament, and Mumbai’s biggest private academy tournament started on a bright note on the second week too. Friday was meant to be an extra day to play the rescheduled matches which were postponed due to rains in the first week. Weekday, short overall event day did not dampen the spirits of the parents and the players at all. The players showed great enthusiasm and continued exhibiting flawless, beautiful football that they had in the first two days.
The U8 Boys, U12 Boys, and U19 Girls were played on Friday at the FCBEscola Andheri Venue along with the U16 Boys who played at the FCB Escola South Mumbai Venue. The loudest voices over the course of the tournament were however heard from the U8 pitches of the competition.
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The excitement of the parents was incredible as they encouraged the young munchkins to display their talent and skill at the biggest stage in Mumbai.
The Soccer Academy and the FCBEscola Blau team responded to the parents call and enjoyed a fruitful day as they topped their respective groups after being unbeaten in the group stages. The U12 Boys were raring to go after having to skip one day of the tournament, and they displayed the eagerness in getting things going. All the teams went hammer and tongs in the evening under floodlights and this pumped up the tired parents who had come from work to enjoy the children play.
The teams CFCI, VFC, Kopana and FCBEscola Blau, displayed some show-stopping moments of the day and brought in the most exciting football on display with their contrasting styles. The clean football style of Kopana, the Barca possession style of FCBEscola, direct football from CFCI and VFC brought the melting pot of Conscient World Cup together and set up some mouth-watering clashes in the playoffs.
The older age groups of U19 Girls and U16 Boys continued their matches with professionalism and incredible displays of maturity. The FCBEscola Girls U19 team and the KNFC U19 Girls team had some end to end action in their match that exhibited class and maturity with FCBEscola fighting for a place in the playoffs with Kopana who faced another team from the upper echelons of the table in GIFA. GIFA and KNFC meanwhile had another side story to their games as they fought for the top of the table.
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GIFA eventually reached the summit for the day as they won their only match against Kopana and KNFC settled for a draw with FCBEscola. At the FCBEscola South Mumbai venue, the mood was mellow before the matches started due to the imminent threat of rains. However, it only lasted until the start of the matches which brought in a wave of excitement at the venue. The players from U16 age category lit the wet turf on fire with the fiery action-packed matches. The insane work ethic and commitment came to the fore as the hard-fought matches with Iron Born team fighting for a place to stay in contention for the finals along with FCBEscola and FC Mumbaikar’s trying to take control of the summit against GIFA. The match eventually resulted in FCM staying on top of the table and Iron Born leading the race for playoffs.
The second day of the finale week was a washout however due to the ongoing storm in Mumbai. The eager kids of Mumbai are however waiting to bring a different kind of wind to Mumbai…. the wind of changing fortunes of Football in Mumbai.