27 Feb. 2017 – After the series between Achrafieh Youth Club and Tripoli Fayhaa being tied 1-1, AYC fought tooth and nail to end the match up in their favor.
The game was the clash of the titans to say the least. With a score of 4-3, AYC now advance to the semi-finals while Tripoli fall just short of making it to the Final 4. The game started at a slow pace until Achrafieh scored the first goal. From that moment on, it was a completely different game: Faster tempo and tougher defense. AYC then scored the second goal making it 2-0. Achrafieh did not stop there. They went on to score the third goal making it 3-0 before Tripoli playing the power player strategy and making it 3-1 at halftime.
In the second half, Tripoli were bent on equalizing the score. However, AYC weren’t going to let that happen. They were perfect on defense and made very little mistakes. Despite scoring a goal and making the score 3-2, Tripoli failed to tie the game. AYC went on to score a fourth goal to make the task almost impossible for FTF. With 12 minutes left on the clock and the score being 4-2 for AYC, Tripoli had no other choice but play with a power player. A high risk-high reward strategy that did help Tripoli but not enough. They scored one goal and missed endless chances. The game ended 4-3.
We spoke to Coach Tarek Rizk about the game and here’s what he had to say: “This game was a very tough and close one. The team who won was the one who made less mistakes. In the first half, we were able to make the best of their mistakes scoring three goals. We then worked to toughen up our defense. In the second half, we created chances from their mistakes but we could not benefit from them. We missed a lot of chances and when they played with the power player, we had 6 or 7 opportunities to kill the game but we couldn’t seize them. We gave them hope to get back in the game but fortunately for us, we tamed them and we won the game. As for the upcoming games, our opponent won’t be easily defeated. Besides we have a big problem with the suspensions. First, we have Lazic who got a red card and Kamel Elias and Dodo both have a yellow card. So we have to think in advance and manage the whole series. However, we will come into each game with the drive to grab the win and let’s hope it’ll be an enjoyable series.”
Congratulations AYC and tough luck Tripoli.
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