Perth Glory’s under 16’s side have performed excellently in the JSSL Singapore International 7’s tournament but missed out on winning the prestigious competition, going down 2-0 to Portuguese giants Sporting Lisbon in the Grand Final at the Padang Stadium.
The Glory went through the whole group stage and final stages undefeated, but in the big one Sporting Lisbon ran out winners to lift the trophy.
Head of Football Youth Development John Gibson said it was a fantastic tournament, but he said the group were disappointed to miss on the trophy.
“The group were outstanding for the entire tournament, it’s a new format of the game for us and we showed great resilience to reach the Grand Final, but unfortunately we were edged out in the final against a very good Sporting Lisbon side.
“Unfortunately we went through the whole tournament undefeated apart from the last game – the game that counted most,” he explained.
“It was a great opportunity for the players to play against players their same age in international football, they did the club proud with their performance on the pitch and their attitude / behaviour off the pitch were exemplary.
“We were all super disappointed we fell a little bit short in the grand final but overall a magnificent experience to play international football and it will be something the group will never forget.”
Glory skipper Riley Warland, who is off this week in the Australian Joey’s camp along with under 18’s players Trent Ostler and Dylan Leonard, said it was a great tournament and the players really enjoyed it. “I thought the tournament was very different to what we expected, it tested our technical ability a lot, but it was a great experience for the player group,” he said.
“We were unlucky in the final playing against Sporting Lisbon, who we beat earlier in the tournament, during the group stages, but all the boys performed to their best throughout and it was an honour to captain them.”
The Glory opened the tournament on Saturday evening with an impressive 2-0 win against English Championship side Fulham, before beating hosts JSSL FC 1-0.
On Sunday the Glory had three games, and started with a hard fought 0-0 draw against Thailand’s Bangkok United, before beating Sporting Lisbon 2-1, and sealed top spot in the group with a 1-1 draw with Penang FA.
On Monday it was Finals day, and all were knockout games, and the Glory had another three games. In the opening Final phase game they beat Enhance Sports Global side 3-0, and then they edged out Penang FC 2-1.
In Grand Final against Sporting Lisbon, the Glory gave it their all, but unfortunately, the Portuguese side ran out 2-0 winners, but it was a tournament to remember for all the players.
JSSL Singapore International 7’s Tournament Results:
Group Phase
Glory 2 Fulham 0
JSSL FC 0 Glory 1
Glory 0 Bangkok United 0
Sporting Lisbon 1 Glory 2
Glory 1 Penang FC 1
Finals
Enhance Sports Global 0 Glory 3
Glory 2 Penang FC 1
Grand Final
Sporting Lisbon 2 Glory 0
