MAKATI FC had its two girls’ teams achieve podium finishes in the Gothia World Youth Cup which ended Saturday in Gothenburg, Sweden.
The decorated Philippine youth club put up a gallant stand before bowing to Sweden’s Kvarnsvedens IK 7-8 via penalties after a 2-2 draw in the Girls 14 Finale, marking the first time after 38 years that Makati FC was in the finals stage.
Kurisara Limpawanich, Makati FC’s Thai recruit, scored the lone first-half goal that put her team ahead, but Kvarnsvedens IK was able to storm back to send the match to a penalty shootout.
It was an evenly matched shootout and Makati FC was into it until the very end, when Kvarnsvedens IK took the championship on a Thea Lohf winning spot kick.
Makati FC won six consecutive Girls 14 matches, including a 1-0 semis conquest of Sweden’s Askims IK.
Makati FC’s Boys 11 and Boys 13 squads, meanwhile, reached the top 16 of the 47th edition of the world’s largest and most international youth football tournament.
The Girls 12 team settled for third place after a 1-5 defeat to United States’ FC New England in the semifinals.
Coach Tomas Lozano was there for the 38th time in the competition that has earned him Hall of Fame award from the Gothia World Youth Cup.
Wrapping up its Europe sortie, Makati FC earlier dominated Cup No. 1 in Frederikshavn, Denmark after all its four teams won the championship.
