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Lions exit Hebiguchi Cup

Last Saturday, we were playing the semi-final of the Hebiguchi Cup against Voodoo. We had an interesting mix of youth, senior & veteran players… A true reflection of what is our club! Also, it was good to have Othmane back in the squad after a 6 months exit out of China.

The match started even at bit slower pace than usual due to the hot weather. However, as the match went on we struggled to keep possession of the ball. The Voodoos who are known for their physical strength and fitness made it difficult for us on the impact. However, both teams had barely a shot on target in the first half. Peter had a great volley which was stopped by the Voodoo keeper. He also saw one of his free kick just missing the target. It was Voodoo who took advantage of a gap in our midfield… One of their midfield tried his luck with a long distance shot which sailed into our goal. The half-time score was 1-0 to Voodoo.

In the second half, we tried to play more over the wings and use the speed of our wingers Hira-san and Ryan. The strategy paid-off when Hira-san delivered a perfect cross from the left wing to Pierre our striker and he didn’t hesitate to put the ball in the net with a powerful low strike.

The equalizer was a boost for us but with 30 min still to go we dropped back a bit and Voodoo put more pressure on our defense with a couple of free-kicks and corners. Ultimately, it was Voodoo who scored their 2nd… A kind of copy of their 1st goal taking a shooting chance from the midfield ending in the right far corner of our goal.

Now, the clock was ticking with only a few minutes left.. Peter got the best chance after a good cross to the 2nd post but his header went unfortunately over the crossbar 🙁

[ H Cup ] Shanghai Voodoo FC 2-1 Shanghai Lions FC

The final whistle was the end of our cup journey marking our exit of the Hebiguchi Cup. We will prepare to get back to winning again in our next game against Pures next Saturday.

Cheers

Freek

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