Shanghai Lions FC Grab SIFL Opening Tournament 2012 Title
Last week, our Veterans made history by clinching their second Shanghai Masters Tournament title, defeating the Shooters on penalties in the final. Today, it was time for the SIFL Lions Team to show why we are called the Lions!
🔥 Tournament Day Recap
We arrived with 12 players, including 16-year-old Lucas and Gwen, who realized (somewhat reluctantly!) that he was the oldest player on the pitch. Coach’s instructions were simple: “This isn’t 11-a-side—score first and take control.” And incredibly, it worked! Even Jonny 007, fresh back from the UK with an extra 15 pounds, managed to bag the opening goal of the tournament—his first and last for the day!
🏁 Group Stage Results:
- Lions 1–0 Krauts
- Lions 1–0 FC Oranje
- Lions 3–0 ReUnited
- Lions 1–0 Vikings
Topping the group set us up for a quarterfinal clash with Teranga, who had earlier beaten the Shooters 2-0 in a fiery match. Key for us was to stay composed, and that’s exactly what we did. A perfect dive by Allan earned us a penalty in the last minute, and Azzeddine calmly converted, sending us into the semifinals.
⚔️ Knockout Rounds:
- 1/4 Final: Lions 1–0 Teranga
- 1/2 Final: Lions 1–0 DIB
- Final: Lions 2–1 Shooters
The semifinal against DIB felt like poetic justice—they topped their group but still faced us. The Lions came out determined to rewrite history, and Jerome’s screamer sent the DIB semi-pros packing.
In the final, fate brought us up against the Shooters—our favorite rivals! We had gone six games unbeaten, without conceding a single goal. But 5 minutes before the final whistle, the Shooters snuck in a header by their youngest player to go 1–0 up.
But never count out the Lions.
Azzeddine quickly equalized with a clean finish, and then came Jonny 007, storming down the left like Usain Bolt, cutting inside and laying it off to Damien, our rookie of the day, who smashed in the winner!
🏅 Unbeaten. Unstoppable.
Seven games.
Seven wins.
One goal conceded.
Tournament champions.
A truly memorable team performance. We’ll be celebrating with a well-earned trophy to mark this outstanding achievement.
Let’s keep this momentum going into the season. Training resumes Wednesday—let’s build on this great start and dominate the SIFL League the same way.
Cheers,
Happy Coach Freek
