Manchester United Cup

This past weekend I decided to go and see exactly what this tournament was about. It's different than most tournaments because it's one age only for boys and girls. The winner receives a chance to go to Hong Kong for the boys winner and Sweden for the girls winner.

The trip for both teams is paid for by Nike and it gives them a chance to win the World Championship at their given age. Each age has only 16 teams, and they are picked mainly by their ranking and at times by their Nike Premier status. That does not mean it's a Nike only tournament. I saw teams in Adidas and Xara to name a few other brands.

Friday night Nike puts on an event for all of the teams and does the draw for the brackets. It's may be the only tournament that you don't know who you play until the night before. All of the players met at the Tiger Wood Complex on the Nike Campus. The teams and coaches all go into one room, and the parent get put into a seperate room with 3 large screens.

The captains of each team are invited up and introduced. They did the girls captains and draw 1st on stage. The tournament seeded 4 Cal-South teams into the 4 brackets to make it fair, then started drawing names out and slowly finishing the brackets. The entire process of this evening sets this tournament on a different level and really get the players and parents excited about the next day.

All of the players also receive a backpack filled with Nike stuff. They end the presentation with highlight clip of soccer to get the players pumped up for the following day of games. Overall, the presentation and opening ceremonies put this tournament in a class of its own.

The following day games begin, with teams playing 40 minute games. Each half is only 20 minutes, so scoring or not being scored on make it truly unique. I found this format made for some very exciting soccer. The speed of play and style of soccer was very fast and the tackles in boys and girls games were awesome. The referees let the teams play and it was rare to see cards, even with some hard challenges and grabbing at times. The soccer by no means was ugly or dirty, in fact it was beautiful 99% of the time.

On saturday, I watched about 10 hours of games and it never got boring. The girls and boys games were always good, and the teams all very even or high quality. The complex had 3 fields total for the 16 boys teams and 16 girls team. I spent most of my time at the 2 grass fields, that were absolutely perfect.

As the games went on and the group winners began to unfold. It became very possible both of the teams from Washington could advance. The Crossfire boys and girls both had the chance to win their group and make the semifinals. I watched all of the games for each team, and from day one thought the Crossfire-James boys were not only a great team, but possibly the best team at the tournament. The Crossfire girls looked very good as well, but one team in particular looked to be better than the rest. The Slammers out of Cal-South looked very good on the girls side.

In the end the Crossfire teams both won their group. The girls ended up playing the Slammers and losing in PK's, but leaving every bit of energy on the field. I personally thought it was their most complete game of the tournament and there was no doubt they had left it on the field. The end result after the following day was Crossfire girls beating Southern Cal United 2-1 for a 3rd place finish.

The boys ended up playing a team out of Ohio....Ohio FC in the semifinal. The game started perfect for Crossfire, scoring only a few minutes into the game. Then going a bit flat for the rest of the half and having a 1-0 lead at halftime. The second half they scored a second goal and took over the game. The win put the Crossfire team into the final and a chance for an all expense trip to Hong Kong and the World Championships.

The final was against a team from Cal-South, the Irvine Strikers. The game could not have started any faster with a crowd of at least a few hundred lining the field. Crossfire went down early having one of their players try and just miss a bicycle kick, that drew a definite reaction from the crowd. It may have been about 10 minutes in and the same player ripped a volley to put Crossfire up 1-0. Both teams went to half with the 1-0 score. Crossfire having the better of the play and having a second goal called back by the referee. Overall, I felt very good about Crossfire winning. They had not been scored on all tournament, against some of the best teams in the country.

The second half Crossfire scored a second goal on a great individual effort. It made the game 2-0, and in my mind sealed their trip to Hong Kong. Irvine however did not give up and scored on a corner to make it 2-1. It would be their last chance though as Crossfire controlled the remaining part of the half and won the tournament.

By winning they go to the World Championships in Hong Kong. My understanding is that Nike pays for 20 people to go. The team will stay in a 5 star hotel, have a team chef, trainer, and bus to get to games. The team will receive new uniforms just for this tournament, plus tons of free Nike gear. I can't think of one tournament where the price for winning is so great. Overall, I've never been to a better tournament.

As a club the Crossfire people should be very proud of what they did this past weekend. They were the only club to have a boys team and girls team in the semifinals. Having the boys win it and the girls finish 3rd. It was a huge accomplishment for their club, but also our state.

I'm not positive, but I believe they will replay the game on Fox Sports. I know the boys did a spot for Fox to have played as a commercial or something. I'd like to say great job boys and girls from Crossfire. I talked to many of the players from both teams during the weekend, and I know all of them will never forget the experience they had at the Manchester United Cup. It was truly in a class by itself.

It was also amazing to see some of the US Youth National Team staff watching the boys semifinals and finals. I can't think of any tournament were you get this type of exposure, besides maybe Disney. Oh and it was nice to talk to a few of the players who still will be doing stories for WPS Soccer, and get to see them and talk to them on a more personal level. All of the boys and girls I spoke with were amazing. Good luck in the future to both the boys and girls teams from Crossfire.

Good Luck in Hong Kong.

A small comment about the girls keeper for Crossfire...you played awesome all weekend and I truly believe you made the difference between a consolation game and the semifinal chance. Truly a special job you did in the goal, and the pk saves in group play, the 2 saves you pressed against the crossbar in earlier games were awesome. Great job, and to me you simply were outstanding all weekend in the net.

Crossfire Boys before the final ...........................Crossfire Girls keeper during pk's against Tabagators.