2025 got off to a great start as we hosted our first ever international women's tournament.
Making up the five team tournament at the Ravelin Sports Centre in Portsmouth were two Aztecs teams, University of Portsmouth, and new friends from Scotland and France in the form of Edinburgh Inter, and Gerby Femenin.
Having experienced some great events around the world, we wanted to bring more to the women's futsal scene in England, and to show what we can do down here on the South Coast. We had not hosted a senior tournament before, so it took a lot of faith for our guests to get themselves on aeroplanes and head over to see us. With this being our first attempt, we were hoping to learn a lot from the experience, and hopefully host more teams at more events in the future.
How did it work?
From the five teams, everyone played everyone else one time, in a round-robin style league. The top four would then qualify for the semi-finals, being seeded, with first playing fourth, and second playing third. We also had awards for the best goalkeeper, the top scorer, and the player of the tournament.
Some of the goals at the tournament were exquisite! Watch the best ones in this video.
Teams were awarded three points for a win, one for a draw, and any deciders would have been head-to-head before goal difference. Matches were twenty-four minutes with a running clock, allowing for ample futsal to be played!
Let's go!
The first game saw seven goals between Aztecs Red and Edinburgh, with the Scots coming away victorious in this 5-2 thriller. Unfortunately, the Aztecs lost fix Monika Sawicka only a few minutes into the first game. Monika has suffered ligament damage, and the team has missed her on the court ever since.
Then it was the French. Our new friends Gerby, playing against a University of Portsmouth side, featuring some Aztecs players that are dual-registered. Another entertaining match, with Gerby edging it 3-2 in the end.
The full results from the group stage were as follows:
Aztecs Red 2-5 Edinburgh
UoP 2-3 Gerby
Aztecs Green 2-0 Aztecs Red
UoP 0-2 Edinburgh
Gerby 1-2 Aztecs Green
Aztecs Red 6-0 UoP
Edinburgh 2-2 Aztecs Green
Aztecs Red 2-3 Gerby
Aztecs Green 6-1 UoP
Gerby 3-2 Edinburgh
Onto the semis!
In the first of the two semi-finals, the two Aztecs sides met, but this time the score line was not as close. The experienced tier one side put six past a tier two side, missing both a fix and a goalkeeper. A valiant display, nonetheless. In the second semi, it was Scotland v France again. The group game finished 3-2 in favour of Gerby, but the semi was even closer. This time it finished 1-1, with the French emerging as the victors following a penalty shootout.
And now... the main event!
Aztecs Green took on Gerby in the final. It was 2-1 in the group stages to the Aztecs, but the final was not as close. Once Amy Maidment opened the scoring, there was no reply from Gerby. The Aztecs scored three more to win the game 4-0, and became our first ever Aztecs Winter Cup Champions.
Individual Awards
Will there be more?
Abolutely! After the success of this tournament, and how much fun we had, we'll be hoping to run one of these every winter and every summer! Aztecs Summer Cup 2025 details will be released very soon. Keep checking our social media pages for more info, and make sure to follow our event page on Facebook. This will be in August, and will feature a women's tournament on Saturday the 9th, and a men's tournament on Sunday the 10th.
Photos!
See you on the court for the next one!
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