[Academy] IA Academy of Football - Page 37

Croatia, England, Spain and Sweden all qualified but once again Busi was overlooked for selection at the tournament.

Croatia were lucky to make it out of their group in this years European Championship after finishing 3rd in their group. They kicked off their campaign against Denmark but they were not able to get the better of the Danes and ended up losing 2-1 before then drawing 2-2 in a very disappointing match with Slovakia. Although their fate was not in their own hands as they faced Bosnia in the final group game, Croatia did everything they could in 1-0 win over them to ensure they had a chance of progressing to the knockout round.

England managed to navigate a very tricky group this year to earn their place in the knockout stages of this tournament, they started very well with a comfortable 2-0 win over a dangerous Russian side. They then followed up with another easy win over some IA Academy rivals Swedish side by beating them 2-0 before going on to once again score 2 goals in their final match but this time it was not without reply in the 2-2 draw against the Czech Republic.

After failing to qualify for the World Cup two years ago, Sweden will have been pleased that they were not only able to make it to this tournament but that they were able to progress from the Group Stages. Things started very well for them as they hammered the Czech Republic side 3-0 before failing to turn up against an admittedly strong England team. This left the Swedes in control of their own fate, needing a win over Russia, a win that they were able to deliver to their fans comfortably 2-0.

It was not to be for Croatia this year as they were thoroughly outclassed in an encounter with a very strong Italian side, despite this they will not be pleased with themselves for not at least managing to score in the 3-0 drubbing by the Azzurri.

England made sure that their progress to the Quarter Finals was never really in danger against a plucky Danish side, they controlled the game from start to finish before seeing Denmark off by 3 goals to 1 in the end with goals from Danny Welbeck and Balon D'or winner Ravi Parmar.

It should have been very easy for this Swedish side, featuring the likes of Lindholm, Hult and Andersson to make it past a fairly poor Greek side to book their place in the Quarter Finals. Somehow though, despite their domination of the opposition they were not able to score in this match and have been sent home wondering quite how they did not do better at this tournament given such an opportunity.

It was an incredible performance by England as they completely took apart a very talented Spanish team as they ran out 4-1 winners in what was quite a showing by the English side to take out one of the favourites for this competition without ever really breaking a sweat.

There were some people in the media who proclaimed Englands 4-1 win over Spain as something of a fluke, a one off that they would not be able to repeat as they faced rivals Germany in the Semi Final. Almighty God had a different opinion of course as he hit 3 goals past the Germans to aid his side in their second 4-1 drubbing of quality opposition as his team booked their place in the Final.

The dream was short-lived for England in the end, after they battered both Spain and Germany 4-1 their fans had begun to believe in their team but it was just not to be, Despite opening the scoring in the 18th minute England capitulated late in the game by conceding two goals in the 87th and 95th minutes in a game that will forever leave England fans wondering how they failed to bring home the Trophy.

After a fairly quiet tournament for the majority of IA Academy players it was Ravi Parmar who once again stole the spotlight by taking home the award for Best Player at the tournament during his teams run to the final of the Championships, he was also 1 of only 2 players named in this years Dream Team with Almighty God taking the other spot.