Yesterday, Juventus Academy Shanghai hosted our first J-Women Shanghai Cup tournament. With eight participating teams of various backgrounds- Chinese, American, African, South American, Italian, and more- it was truly an international Women's competition. Despite the heavy rain and relatively difficult pitch conditions, the women showed up and played to win.
The tournament started with a single-leg group stage to determine the teams that would make it into the Semifinals. In Group A, ANAR topped the group with 9 points, followed by SWIFC with 6 points. In Group B, the team to rank first was A.L.T and Shanghai United came second. The other four teams (Africa United, La Gozadera, Azzurre FC, Juventus Academy Shanghai) played against each other to rank between 5th and 8th place.
The third place match between Shanghai United and A.L.T was a dramatic one. Though A.L.T fell behind by two goals early on, they were able to realize a comeback and turned the scoreline 3-2 in their favor. Shanghai United then scored a decisive equalizer and dramatically won on penalties. It was a fantastic and enjoyable match from both sides.
ANAR and SWIFC were the two teams to advance to the final. Even though ANAR won 4-0 against SWIFC in the group stages, the final was a much closer game. The scoreline remained 0-0 for a majority of the match, and ANAR broke the tie with just a few minutes left on the clock. A well-deserved win for the Chinese team, and great job to SWIFC for coming close as well!
Juventus Academy Shanghai finished last in the group stages and won their last match to rank 7th place in total. However, the Juve girls did well and came very close to gaining points in two of their three group stage matches. Against A.L.T, Juve lost just 2-1, and 1-0 against Azzurre. With more practice and confidence, the girls will continue to improve.
Thank you to all the teams for joining, we had a great time and hope you did as well!
