Red Bull Neymar Jr's Five World Final: How Nigerian teams fared in Qatar
The tournament’s 5-day program took off from the 21st of May and went right into the draws and welcome ceremonies the day after
The much-awaited Red Bull Neymar Jr’s Five Super Finals was one for the books, it saw players, and teams from around the world, over 50 countries were represented in Qatar last weekend to outplay them all and get a chance to play alongside Neymar Jr.
The tournament’s 5-day program took off from the 21st of May and went right into the draws and welcome ceremonies the day after.
The Nigerian team was well represented by winners from 2021- Pius FC (mixed), winners from 2022 - She United (women) and Holy Sons (mixed), Jr’s Global Five winners from 2020 – 2022 (Odunlami Yinka, Godian Stanley and Abdulazeez Zulfah).
The groups were drawn, and the Nigerian teams were drawn into groups with Netherlands, Brazil, India, South Korea, Italy, and Qatar amongst others for Monday’s Group stage matches.
Before the draw, players enjoyed a little training session down on the nearby beach in Doha, showing off their best tricks and flicks in a glimpse of what was to come in the competition.
Meanwhile, three Jr's Global Five squads, each consisting of seven players who earned their ticket to the World Final by impressing Neymar Jr with their tricks and skills posted on social media, met up for the first time and dived into late-night training sessions at the Qatar Foundation as they needed to first off, familiarize themselves with each other and their individual playstyles.
After Monday’s group stage matches, Team Pius FC & She United qualified for the knockout stages. With victories over Qatar & Italy (5:1 & 3:0 respectively), and losses to Brazil & Netherlands (2:1 & 2:0 respectively), Pius FC was fixed to face Brazil 22 team (Consagrados FC) once again in a final knockout match which would determine the final spot in the Mixed tournament’s Top 8 bracket.
She United also made their way with victories over UAE & Netherlands (5:1 & 4:1 respectively), a draw against the Brazil 22 team (1:1) and a loss to the Brazil 21 team (0:2). We were once again drawn to face Brazil 22 team (Resenha 013) to determine the final spot for the female tournament’s final 8.
On the other hand, Holy Sons were unfortunately knocked out with losses to South Korea, Saudi Arabia and the Jr’s Global Five team (1:0, 5:0 & 2:1 respectively) with the goals that would eventually end their run in the latter match being scored by our very own Odunlami Yinka from the Jr’s Global Five 2020 team.
Tuesday was all about knockout football. As is usually the case at this stage, there was plenty of drama, joy and heartache as teams gave everything they had to outplay them all.
Pius FC was unfortunately knocked out after conceding a single goal from the Consagrados team who would later go on to qualify for the Final match. In similar faith, She United were knocked out 5:0 by the Resenha 013 team who again, made their way all the way to the finals.
After opening up their tournament on Monday with a 5-0 loss at the hands of fellow Brazilians Resenha 013 (the team who knocked out SHE UNITED) – the first-ever derby match in this competition - the women of Fortal Balls (Brazil 21 Female National champions) were able to avenge that defeat in a dramatic final against the same opposition. Following a tight and tense goalless draw, it all came down to a one versus one shootout to decide the champions, with Fortal Balls eventually steering in the winner from distance.
In the mixed category, fellow Brazilians Consagrados overcame the strong challenge of the Netherlands team, MrM SportCoaching, in a similarly dramatic fashion.
After nine action-packed but goalless minutes, the side from the Netherlands took the lead with just seconds remaining, before Consagrados forced a shootout with an equaliser moments later.
A quickfire winner straight from the kick-off sealed victory in the shootout for the Brazilians. Leading to the Brazilan teams' clean sweep at Red Bull Neymar Jr’s Five Super Finals.
MATCH HIGHLIGHT VIDEO LINKS
PIUS FC GROUP STAGE MATCHES
PIUS FC KNOCKOUT MATCH
HOLY SONS
SHE UNITED GROUP STAGE MATCHES
SHE UNITED KNOCKOUT STAGE
