PW_2_2019

Sports

Amikeco tra futbalo Lukasz Adamczyk , PSNI Branch

Seven officers from PSNI represented TEAM GB at the 2019 X Indoor Futsal Tournament in Warsaw, Poland. This year’s competition involved 103 teams from across Poland and Europe and we would like to thank PSNI and the IPA for the support we received. Without everyone’s help, this trip would not have happened. A t the opening ceremony there were representatives from all over Europe, with 86 teams from Poland and 17 from the rest of Europe. It was three days of pure football and social engagement. The opening

not to top their group. We went into the match confident and we had our chances to go up by a goal or two but in the end it was not our day. When everyone was resigned to this game being decided on penalties, the Ukrainian team managed to score during the siren ending the match. We made a formal complaint to the organisers, as all of our players and many of our Polish supporters believed the goal should be disallowed. Sadly we lost our appeal. Frustration and disappointment all came out at once and it was hard to believe what had happened to us. Luckily enough, all the negative emotions didn’t last long and we were soon enjoying watching some football and supporting local teams. In the end, Moldovan team won the tournament, beating Belarus in the final. Team GRIFON, who beat us earlier in the tournament, finished 3rd. As with all IPA events it is not only about the taking part, but it is about meeting colleagues throughout Europe and making new friends. Without the support of the PSUK, IPA Section UK and NI IPA, we would not have been able to do this and we can only thank you again.

ceremony was superb. Each team was introduced individually and were made very welcome by our hosts. There was also some music by a local artist. The draw was tough on us with some strong local teams in our group, including the Polish Fire Service and our compatriots from the Ukraine. Our team was focused, but, as with every first match at a tournament, there were some nerves. We started off well and won our match against Poland’s Border Guards, with one goal from Mark and one from Steve. Our next match kicked off 25 minutes later and after a tight affair against a local side, we won again 2 - 0. The next match was just an hour later and we were again running away with a 4 - 0 win against a Headquarters team from Opole. So halfway through the tournament we remained unbeaten and sat 1st in the table. Next up we faced the stars of Poland’s Orlen Team, who were one of the main sponsors of the event. We felt under pressure and lost this match 2 - 0. We controlled the majority of the match before letting it slip in the last few minutes. Next up were a side from Fire Service Headquarters in Warsaw who managed to beat us 1- 0, scoring their goal in the last minute of the match. We felt robbed, as this was our last group match of day one. We were due to play two further matches the next day. The maths was straightforward, as with two wins we could finish top in our group, but two defeats could see us leaving the tournament and we did not start well. A Ukrainian team called ‘GRIFON’ beat us easily 4 -1 and we knew we had to win the last match to progress further. Under a great deal of pressure, we beat a Polish Army team called AGAT 3-1, which put us 3rd in our group, allowing us to progress into the final stages. We scored an amazing 12 goals and conceded eight, which gave us 12 points at the end. Our aspiration before the tournament was to qualify from the group and we did it again this year. The boys did the PSUK and IPA proud. That evening we met up with the other international teams and had some food and a few drinks. Although language may have divided us in the beginning, the language of football soon united us. The next day, our first match kicked off at 8.15 against the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine. They were a tough team, who were unlucky

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POLICE WORLD Vol 64 No.2, 2019