BoroGuide Falls Short At The Inaugural Currys FIFA Cup

On 27 March, BoroGuide was invited to join seven other footballing bloggers to take part in the first ever Currys FIFA Cup. The event was organised by Currys in partnership with Beko, sponsor of the FA Cup and manufacturer of a fantastic range of fridges and stylish built-in ovens. When it comes to representing, we take our responsibilities towards Stevenage very seriously – and because of that, we were determined to make sure we didn’t leave the venue disappointed.

From Arsenal to West Ham, there were a mixture of teams being representatives – in addition to one or two more general footballing blogs. So it seemed fair that we weren’t restricted in which teams we could choose on screen. After using our late arrival as a ruse to scout out challengers in the first three quarter finals, it was time for BoroGuide to step up to the plate as we took on The False Nine for the last place in the semi-finals. Going out here would be a disaster…

Us as Spain took an early lead against them as Germany. But as our players started flagging, not even wildly desperate substitutions could halt the slide. Germany got the equaliser in the dying minutes; it’d not have been a shock had Germany nicked it in stoppage time either. But we settled back down for a rather quiet period of extra time and ended up with pelanties. Both teams missed their first two, before we manned up and eventually took the shoot-out 3-1.

As we watched the first semi-final, we pledged never to be Spain again. With Scoop On The City the only barrier between us and the final, we selected Bayern Munich and up against us was Real Madrid and a tricky task. After a scrappy opening quarter of an hour, we started to assert ourselves, creating a good few chances. Our first two goals were rather beautiful, particularly Mario Goetze’s curling effort from 20 yards, and we finished the game as 3-0 winners.

So. Into the final then.

Our opponent was Arsenal Youth, who used an interesting Ultra Defensive approach to stop us from getting our Bayern forwards in behind the Gunners’ back line. It was a fairly even game, but we went a goal behind late in the first half through a HUGELY contentious pelanty. From there on in, we had all the ball and territory, but couldn’t get in behind the defence. It wasn’t to be our day, as the resolute Arsenal defence earned them victory in the Currys FIFA Cup Final.

The prize was a couple of tickets to Arsenal v Wigan Athletic, so the right guys won them!

We then learned we were in a Table Football tournament, and coasted the opening two rounds. But despite going three goals up in the final against The False Nine, we crumbled and came runners-up. Again. Normally, this would have crushed our spirit and maybe even made us cry. But after having a terrific evening with some top footballing chaps, we saw the positives and thank Currys/Beko for the invitation. If we’re ever invited back, we will win the cup next time. Honest!

For the Currys/Beko blog, click here.