The annual Singapore Cricket Club (SCC) Soccer 7s showcased exciting football action over the weekend (March 23 and 24) at the Padang, with a record 60 teams playing in five categories – Open, Masters, Legends, Youth and a new Corporate category.
Of these, 17 teams flew in from Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Japan and Hong Kong and gave the local teams a good fight.
Although SCC Firsts won all their matches on their way up to the Open Cup Final, including a 6-5 win over Hong Kong FC 2 team, they lost the final to Hong Kong FC 1 team.
An exciting first half ended 2-1 in favour of HKFC and the score remained unchanged until the final whistle, SCC Firsts, who won the Open Cup for two years in a row in 2017 and 2018, conceded the Open Champion title to HKFC 1.
In the Masters category, long-time rivals SCC Masters and Royal Bangkok Masters battled for the Cup in a nail- biting game.
Royal Bangkok Masters scored first but SCC Masters soon caught up and the first half ended 1-1. In the second half, Royal Bangkok Masters took a 2-1 lead but SCC Masters pushed hard to tie the match 2-2 at full time.
Even after extra time, the deadlock could not be broken, and the match went into a penalty shoot-out.
A fantastic save by SCC Masters’ goalkeeper Amos Boon helped the local team win 3-2.
Bangkok Airways retained their Legends Cup title after beating Singapore Polytechnic 1-0 in a close fight.
Bali Sports Foundation played strongly against newcomers LFA Protectors Academy to retain their Youth Cup title after a 1-0 win.
Youth Football Home from Phuket, Thailand, played Chelsea FC IDC SG in a fast-paced match and won 3-0 to claim the Youth Plate title.
Eight organisations played in the new Corporate category. Cabin Crew FC beat 4-1 over Resorts World Sentosa to be crowned the Corporate Cup winner . DHL won the Corporate Plate with a 3-0 win over Ernst & Young.
VIP guests in attendance
The tournament welcomed Nayim (full name Mohammed Ali Amar), the Spanish retired central midfielder (above). He played in the Legends category for local team Bruce James Select, who made it to the Legends Cup Semi-Final, before losing 6-5 to Bangkok Airways.
Klaus Augenthaler (below), the former Bayern Munich captain and World Cup winner with West Germany, played for the SCC Legends. His contribution helped the team into the Legends Plate Semi-Finals. SCC Legends won the Legends Plate the next day.
Malaysian football legend Santokh Singh visited the tournament on Saturday and spent the afternoon
enjoying the matches and the festive atmosphere at the Carnival Zone.
Fans also gathered at the tournament’s hospitality tent to take photographs with Bayern Munich’s Bundesliga Champions Plate.
For full results of the tournament, visit: https://www.macoocoo.com/index.php?r=group/default/tournament&section=pools&tid=1569
