IMG International Cup 2015
Day 5 - 20th December 2015 5.30pm

Spurs 2 - 2 Maccabi Haifa
A.E.T. Maccabi win 6-5 on penalties

Spurs(4-2-3-1):– Whiteman; Muscatt, Tangana, Brown, Tsaroulla(Pritchard 41); Owens, Stylianides(Roles 81); Sterling(Bennetts 67), Goddard, (Edwards 41), Duncan(Shashoua 41); Loft(Oteh 77)

Unused Subs:- Austin; Marsh, Tracey

Scorers:– Loft 2, Owens 23

Booked:– Sterling 39(Diving), Muscatt 85(Foul), Tangana 97(Dissent)

Maccabi(4-2-3-1):– Fuchs; Elias, Dabach, Arad, Edri(Trost 65); Biton(Cyas 80), Awad; Morbehay(Dahan 77), Ben Barvch, Ben David: Kayal

Unused Subs:– Darwish, Nadir, Ben Basat, Rubinov

Scorers:– o.g. Tangana 1, Ben Barvch 56

Booked:– Dabach 63(Foul), Fuchs 100+(UGC)

The game had been moved forward from 7.30 for some reason which may have been to make sure the evening finished without delay from the presentation. (Maccabi only cleared the field halfway through the first half of the last game). Thankfully I got the squad list for the Maccabi team which was in broken English from their coach so I apologise for any mistakes.

Spurs lined up with Whiteman in goal behind captain Tangana and Brown with Muscatt at right back and Tsaroulla on the left. Owens anchored the midfield with Stylianides next to him while Goddard was in front of them flanked by Sterling on his right and Duncan on his left. It was a surprise to see Sterling as I was told he was unlikely to play. Ryan Loft led the line.

Maccabi kicked off and attacked down the left with Awad firing in a shot after only ten seconds which went in off Tangana for the lead. Spurs responded by winning a corner from the restart. Loft rose the highest to head in the in-swinging corner from Goddard for the equaliser inside two minutes.

After such a start both sides settled down for an open game which was end to end. Sterling cut in from the right to fire over before Biton mis-hit right in front of goal. Duncan got down the left and pulled the ball back to the edge of the area where Owens arrived to drive it into the net to put Spurs into the lead.

Maccabi quickly won a corner but Arad headed over. Sterling picked the ball up near the halfway line on the right and ran at the Haifa defence getting into the area but hit his effort over the bar. Spurs were having the better of the play as Sterling played in Loft for a chance which was saved by Fuchs. Sterling made another good run through the right channel before being stopped by two defenders and with players asking for a penalty the referee booked the Spurs player for diving. That was the last chance of the half.

Spurs made three changes for the second half with Edwards replacing Goddard in midfield. Duncan made way for Shashoua on the left, and Prichard replaced Tsaroulla at right back with Muscatt moving to the left. Maccabi became more solid in this half defending better and not allowing a shot on target until fifteen minutes into the half when Edwards played in Loft for an effort that was saved.

Maccabi won the ball in the Spurs half and attacked quickly with Ben Barvch scoring with a low finish. Loft drew another save before Edri fired wide from a free kick. Dabach was booked for fouling Edwards when he got the better of him once too often. Pritchard got forward to fire over and on the other side Muscatt also shot over.

Spurs made another change bringing on Bennetts for Sterling on the right. Edwards gave away a free kick just outside the area from which Biton drew a save from Whiteman. Loft looked frustrated when he fired wide just before another Spurs change which saw the big striker replaced by Oteh. With no more goals the game went into extra time of ten minutes each way.

Awad drew a save halfway through the first half of extra time, and Muscatt was booked for a foul near the halfway line with Awad driving wide just after. Spurs made another change at the start of the second period with Roles replacing Stylianides in midfield. Edwards, who had a tendency to over-elaborate, drew a save from the keeper before Tangana was penalised for a foul which he contested and was swiftly booked for his protest. The last chance of the game fell to Maccabi when Dabach hit a free kick over.

With the game going to the lottery of penalties Maccabi went first scoring all five penalties with Spurs responding in kind as Shashoua, Roles, Owens, Edwards and Oteh all converted. After Dahan scored the first of the sudden death kicks we then had Fuchs trying to unsettle Bennetts before his kick. The ref booked the keeper for ungentlemanly conduct. It could be said that he did his job as he saved Bennetts kick. The ref ordered a retake as the keeper had moved off his line before the kick. Fuchs saved again but the ref again ordered it to be retaken for the same offence. Fuchs saved for a third time to win the Cup for the Israeli side.

It had been a good match with Spurs a little ahead of Maccabi. However, Spurs tended to want to make that extra pass before shooting allowing the defenders to restrict the number of chances. Fuchs was still the busiest keeper and his antics in the shoot-out won it for his team. Toluca won the third place game 4-2 on penalties from Black Rock after a goalless match.

Ray

· IMG Tournament Day 1 report
· IMG Tournament Day 2 report
· IMG Tournament Day 4 report

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