The Homenetmen football team and coach Klauss met early in the morning at Heathrow airport on Good Friday in anticipation of the European games. We checked in, relaxed in the departure lounge before boarding our flight. We arrived in Duisburg to be greeted by a member of the organising committee (the Central Council of Armenians in Germany) who had arranged a coach to take us, and participants from a few other countries, to our accommodation.
After a two hour trip the teams arrived at their accommodation which was located in a complex which included the halls for competition and restaurant. We settled into our rooms and went out to explore the town.
We came back early evening and did some training in the main sports hall in preparation for the start of the games the next day. The draw was made later that night and Homenetmen was paired with Dubai and Milan. The games would be 12 minutes each until the quarter finals where the format changed to two halves of 10 minutes.
The next morning Homenetmen London played their first game of the group stages against Dubai, winning 1-0 in an impressive performance with Armen Seridarian scoring the winning goal firing in from distance. The team then sat back and watched the other games; Dubai lost both their games so Homenetmen London went into the next game having already qualified. The game was against Milan and London won 1-0 again with Edwin Tellme scoring the solitary goal, tucking in a left footed finish. Homenetmen had therefore topped their group.
In the evening the squad took dinner and went to the disco which was held a stones throw from the accommodation.
The following day saw the beginning of the quarter finals. London was up against the home side, Duisburg. The game ended with a 4-1 victory to Duisburg in a poor performance first half, London went 3-0 down early on and did well to rally in the second, hitting the post 3 times with a much improved performance. In the end Vienna went on to win the tournament and deserved it for the way they played.
The closing ceremony with the presentation of trophies followed and then all the teams and fans went to the dinner and dance which took place in a hall about half an hour from the accommodation. It was a very nice evening with good food and music and was a fitting end to the tournament.
The following morning Homenetmen London boarded a coach and made their way back to the airport to head back to London.
All in All it was a very good tournament. It was a tournament where the team grew together on and off the pitch and produced some very impressive performances, getting to the quarter finals which is very respectable.
Source: Alex Katsouris