Review on the Football United League Cup
By: Ray Porter
With the Football United League Cup coming to an end, I take a look back at the twists and turns this competition has given us.
Winners: AD Lisboa
AD Lisboa won their first title at the first opportunity. After a convincing, although not great group stage, captain Kalle Knull found the right buttons to push to transform his team. Coming from the far easier Group B, they had to beat last season’s champions London WW, Roma SS and FC Amsterdam on the road to the final. Their title was built on a rigid defense and an extremely efficient attacker, more on that later.
Biggest overachievers: FC Amsterdam
With only one win in their last five league games and three losses over the same period, Amsterdam was predicted to be eliminated in the Group of Death this year. But to the surprise of many, they prevailed, beating Zagreb NK in the process. By edging past Norden on penalties and beating a shocking Vienna under the captaincy of Bendtner, they ended up finishing second, a great achievement for a midtable club with a bad history in knockout competitions.
Biggest underachievers: Zagreb NK
Zagreb went into this tournament without a loss since Matchday 1 and were predicted to battle for the title. Instead, they remained winless in the group stage, crashing out in last place with two points. Reportedly, they’ve been gearing up for the league instead, signing Matthew Lennon and improving in training. With Vienna in turmoil after a disappointing knockout stage, Zagreb must be seen as the favorites to win the league this season.
Player of the tournament: Marcus Wood
With zero goal contributions in the group stage, many would argue that Wood doesn’t deserve a spot here. However, in the knockout stage, Marcus Wood turned up like no one else. Lisboa’s triumph solely rested on his effectiveness in front of the goal, as he contributed to every single Lisboa goal in the knockouts. With 4 goals, he is one of the three top scorers of this cup, together with Tomar Jr. and Hoffmann.
