EFBLU European Tour 6 returns to Plovdiv
19 March 2023 /
Catena win EFBLU European Tour 6
19 March 2023 /
The experienced Catena Racing Team from the Romanian capital of Bucharest showed their strength at EFBLU European Tour 6 and won the tournament in impressive style!
The sixth edition of the EFBLU European Tour was organized by Football Corporate League in the beautiful Bulgarian city of Plovdiv on 18th-19th March and featured 12 teams from 4 European countries - Bulgaria, Slovenia, Romania and Moldova.
Catena, who won the silver medals at EFBLU European Tour 4 in Milan in December 2019, arrived in Plovdiv with the ambition to make the next step and lift the trophy. They started the campaign with a 4-2 win over the tough Bulgarian team of Hanon Systems and completed the group stage with two big wins - 8-0 and 7-0 against Odelo Bulgaria and BTL Industries, respectively.
The future champions faced their toughest challenge of the tournament in the quarter-finals where they defeated PASO from the host city by 2-0 thanks to two goals from Alexandru Nechita. In the next round, the Romanian powerhouse met with Hanon Systems again and defeated them by 3-0 this time.
In the final, which featured two teams which had won all of their 5 previous matches, Catena confirmed their dominance and beat Plovdiv's Gamma Sports by 5-1.
Interestingly, the champions kept 4 clean sheets in 6 games and all of their 10 field players scored in the competition. Furthermore, midfielder Mihai Cană, the influential leader of the Romanian side, shone throughout the tournament and won the MVP Award for his performances of the highest quality.
Gamma Sports, who had the ambition to win the main trophy, had to settle for the silver medals. Their pair of skilful forwards Teodor Skorchev and Aleksandar Gudin combined for 10 goals and had a significant contribution to the successes of their team.
The bronze medals went to the Slovenian team of Luka Koper who recorded an impressive debut at an EFBLU tournament. In the game for the third place, they defeated Hanon Systems by 6-4 in a high-scoring affair. The Slovenian striker Adnan Ahmetović hit a hat-trick to take his tally in the tournament to 9 goals and grab the award for the top goalscorer.
In the game for the fifth place, debutants ICAM from the Moldova's capital of Chișinău defeated 1-0 Romanian Sportips, who made their fifth straight appearance at an EFBLU tournament. Interestingly, ICAM kept 4 clean sheets in 5 games and their goalkeeper Alexandru Cojocari was voted the best goalkeeper of the tournament.
All teams created a friendly atmosphere and the team of BTL Industries from the host city of Plovdiv received the special Fair Play Award.
EFBLU European Tour 6 final standings:
1. Catena Racing Team (Bucharest, Romania)
2. Gamma Sports (Plovdiv, Bulgaria)
3. Luka Koper (Koper, Slovenia)
4. Hanon Systems (Plovdiv, Bulgaria)
5. ICAM (Chișinău, Moldova)
6. Sportips (Bucharest, Romania)
7. BTL Industries (Plovdiv, Bulgaria)
8. PASO (Polvdiv, Bulgaria)
9. Odelo (Prebold, Slovenia)
10. VP Brands International (Plovdiv, Bulgaria)
11. ABB Bulgaria (Plovdiv, Bulgaria)
12. Odelo (Sofia, Bulgaria)
EFBLU European Tour 6 awards:
MVP: Mihai Cană (Catena)
Top goalscorer: Adnan Ahmetović (Luka Koper) - 9 goals
Best goalkeeper: Alexandru Cojocari (ICAM)
Fair Play Award: BTL Industries (Bulgaria)
