Olympique de Marseille made history with their first MICFootball title thanks to Max Corbon’s goal (1-0). The French team beat Villarreal.

The French, who have won the title for the first time and have led two teams to the finals of the MIC 2022, had suffered in the final, after beating the Romanian Rapid Football Club (0-0) on penalties. Earlier, two teams from Girona had won: CF Esplais (3-0) and UE Quart (2-3) and in the group stage they had sweated against UE Rapitenca (1-2), Maj FC (2-1) and UE Figueres (0-2).

Villarreal CF’s Quique Castells and Cesar Arzo had a placid path to the final, with goals against UE Rapitenca (7-0), Maj FC (6-1) and CE Europa (4-0). In the previous phase, they had also shown superiority against Futuras Estrellas del Tequendama (14-0), CF Esplais (0-3) and Taby FC (5-1), but in the final they lost against the French team.

Valencia CF won their first MICFootball’s title ever. The Valencian team has lifted the title of the U13 category after beating Olympique de Marseille in a tight final (1-2). Valencia, who missed a penalty, overcame the earlier goal by Frenchman Remadnia Said through Marc Martínez and Adrià Sales after the halftime.

Valencia CF led by Alfredo Ramos and Víctor Felipe had reached the final with extreme defensive solidity -no goal conceded in six games- and with a good nose in attack. The full six wins had been against Athletic Club de Bilbao (2-0), Cristinenc Costa Brava (3-0), UE Figueres (8-0), UE Quart (11-0), CF Sant Feliu de Guíxols ( 0-14) and Wakatake FC (15-0). Olympique de Marseille had also won all six games prior to the final: UE Quart (1-5), Junior FC Vallesano (4-1), Albion SC (2-0), MTK Budapest (3-1), Cristinense Costa Brava (0-3) and Evolution Team (4-0).

 

The RCD Espanyol Special has been proclaimed champion, this Friday evening at Vidreres (Girona), of the 8th edition of the MICIntegra inclusive tournament.

The championship, played by people with other abilities and returning three years later, was attended by 18 football teams. The white-and-blue team beat CA Garrotxa in the final of the Companion Phase, made up of teams that had finished the first phase in first place. In this way, the RCD Espanyol Special revalidates the MICIntegra title – it won the last tournament played, in 2019 – and now has four in the last five editions (2016, 2017, 2019 and 2022).

The other two phases, with teams that had finished the previous phase in second and third place, left the following winners: UE Sant Andreu TEB beat FC Taina Sabadell in the final of the Motivation Phase; and the EU Cornellà Insercor has won the Fair Play Phase in the decisive duel against the EU Figueres Integra.

Juanjo Rovira, MICFootball’s director, explains that the assessment of MICIntegra “has been very positive. Seeing the faces of joy and happiness of the participants is a breath of fresh air and a charge of energy for everyone. We missed this tournament a lot and we look forward to seeing the players with open arms next year. ”

“We are very happy that MICSports continues to bet on Vidreres to organize this sports festival. We celebrate that after two years of mandatory stoppage we have been able to recover it and we hope that all the players have enjoyed it”, said Vidreres’ mayor Jordi Camp.

“I told the girls: go out there and give it your all. All. When we will be on the plane, returning to Chile, you should think: I gave it my best”, starts Marioly Dore, trainer, profe, of the women’s team of Centro de Entrenamiento y Formación Futbolística Copiapó. Copiapó, the capital of the Atacama region, is a “desert area, very different from here. Here is so green and so beautiful”. The players flew from Santiago de Xile to New York, and from there, to Madrid, where they took a bus to Barcelona to end up in Lloret de Mar, where they are staying. “It’s been a very long trip, but we are very happy. For many of the players, this has been their first trip”, points out Dore, who is only 25 years old.

The CEFF Copiapó women’s team was founded five years ago, but disbanded shortly thereafter, and it’s been four years since Dore took charge of it. “The pandemic hit us when the team was just born and made it impossible for us to come to the MIC in 2020”, laments Dore. “For me, it was very important for the girls to come: to meet teams from other places, to travel. Women’s football in Chile is just beginning to emerge. Some years ago, being a woman and playing football was almost a taboo. That’s why I wanted them to see and get in touch with women’s football here”, explains.

On this matter, Dore also underlines that “this year, a law has been passed in Chile to regulate the salaries of women football players. Now, women can also earn a living playing football. This is very important. For all of us, but especially for girls: now they can start to really believe in women’s football”. “That’s why it’s so important that there are women’s tournaments like the MIC”, highlights. On the one hand, “because it makes girls believe in it. To come here is a great motivation to work, and it’s a rewarding effort”. And, at the same time, “this way, girls have more referents, which is also very important. And so, too, the word spreads: perhaps because we have come, another women’s team from Chile will come next year, and they will work and they will grow. And this way women’s football will grow”, observes Dore, who also stresses that “for me, it’s very important that there are women coaches in women’s teams”. Now, the team faces the tournament “with a lot of desire, with a lot of enthusiasm, but, above all, with a lot of desire to play football, which is what we like the best”.

The 20th edition of MICFootball opened this Wednesday in four venues: Figueres, Lloret de Mar, Palamós and L’Estartit. The international grassroots football tournament celebrates its return three years later with a festive atmosphere in the different municipalities. Until this Sunday, 720 matches will be played.

To avoid congestion in the stands and on the pitch for health reasons, this year the opening of the tournament has gone from one to four municipalities. MICFootball returns three years later, will last until this Sunday, April 17, and today has begun to experience a festive atmosphere in the different venues of the Costa Brava. The events included a parade of teams with flags (300 sets from 24 countries) and awards ceremonies, including the Dani Montesinos Award for Marc Perelló (2022) & Antonio Tuachi (2020). 

The Vilatenim Stadium in Figueres has been the epicenter of the opening ceremonies. David Bellver, President of MICFootball, thanked the support of institutions, administrations, sponsors and collaborators, and explained that “being without MIC in two editions has been hard and difficult. We really wanted to celebrate it again, we look forward to it. We are pleased with the response from the teams, having 300 from 24 countries around the world is very remarkable. “

We explain here how you can follow the day-to-day of the tournament

MICFootball will be followed in three different platforms: MICLive; TV channels (GOL TV, TV3, Movistar and TV Costa Brava) and our social media channels.

MICLive

MICLive is the official platform to follow all the events. In this link live.micfootball.com you will have the chance to see all the schedule, the play-by-play of the games and follow your favorite team. 

How can I use it? We explain you in this link.

TV’s

The MICFootball 2022 television grid will be wide and varied. Different matches can be seen live on television. Channels like GOL, TV3 and Movistar will broadcast the matches. They can also be followed on LaLigaSports and TV Costa Brava. All the matches that are broadcast on television can also be followed through our YouTube channel MICFootball.

The finals can be followed in full on YouTube.

Social media channels

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/micfootball/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/micfootball
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/micfootballcup
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/micfootba
• Tik Tok: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZML4BUwtk/

The teams that will play MICFootball 2022 are already in their respective hotels. This Tuesday all the expeditions have arrived, full of enthusiasm and with the maximum motivation to live a unique experience on the Costa Brava.

Some teams took advantage of the arrival to get to know the towns of Girona, visit Barcelona and enjoy the beach despite the cloudy day.

Teams from all over the world will gather until April 17 in the areas of Lloret de Mar, L’Estartit, Roses, Palamós and Platja d’Aro. There will be 24 countries represented, including Colombia, Chile, the United States and South Korea.

Algunos equipos haciendo turismo y disfrutando de las playas de la @costabrava horas antes de que el balón eche a rodar 😎#MICFootball | #WeAreMIC pic.twitter.com/eLEKhJkygP

— MICFootball (@micfootballcup) April 12, 2022

CE Banyoles won the Pre-MICFootball

The youth team (category U18-U20) of CE Banyoles has been proclaimed champion of the Pre-MICFootball after beating the American FC Central Los Angeles in the penalty shootout of the final (1-1). The tournament has been played before the start of MICFootball with groups that days before the premiere already arrived in Girona to prepare for the tournament.

This year 6 youth teams (U18 and U20) have participated: four teams from the United States (FC Central Los Angeles, Soccer Club Central, Peloteros USA and FC California-Los Angeles) and the two hosts (Club Esportiu Banyoles and Atlétic Club Banyoles).

More than 200 volunteers arrived to Lloret de Mar this Monday to make this year’s MICFootball possible once again. 

The roles of all these volunteers are varied. Field delegates will be in charge of all matches starting at the scheduled time; the guides will help all teams know and know where they are and where they need to go; the logistics and press teams will ensure that there is no shortage of material or all the information needed to fully enjoy the tournament at all levels and the physiotherapists will take care of the physical setbacks that players may suffer during and outside the match.

All of them have come from all over Catalonia and other European Union countries to help organizing and carrying out the tasks of a tournament that, after two years of pandemic, is now in its twentieth edition, with the intact commitment of dozens of people to make the event, once again, a success at all levels.

Former coach Juan Carlos Unzué has been the star of the first MICFootball 2022 volunteer day. He was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), a neurodegenerative and incurable disease that progressively paralyzes the muscles, back in 2019. The arrival of ALS completely changed Unzué’s life, but the former goalkeeper has decided to devote all his time to explaining a disease that is still too unknown through talks and conferences such as the one he has given today at the Hotel Evenia Olympic in Lloret de Mar as part of the “Sport and Life” training day organized by the Diputació de Girona & Vibliotec.

Unzué emphasized that sport and, more specifically, his role as a goalkeeper, have helped him to grow as a person and to accept the process of living with ALS. “Sport gives us the opportunity to acquire values such as commitment, resilience and empathy.”

A new vital stage where an appreciation of the present and the present stands out, enjoying the present without being obsessed with the future, and an apology for vulnerability, relying on the immediate environment. With admirable vitality and optimism, he wanted to share some of the most complicated experiences he has had as a coach. Experiences from which he has learned great lessons that have undoubtedly inspired the entire team of the tournament.

PHOTOGALLERY

The Camp Vell of Banyoles will host the Pre-MICFootball next Tuesday, April 12, in the afternoon. This is a one-day competition that is played with clubs participating in MICFootball that are already being prepared in Girona days before the premiere. This year, six youth teams (U18 and U20) will take part in: four teams from the United States (FC Central Los Angeles, Soccer Club Central, Peloteros USA and FC California-Los Angeles) and the two hosts (Club Esportiu Banyoles and Atlètic Club Banyoles).

Juanjo Rovira, MICFootball’s director, is confident that the aperitif of the tournament in Banyoles “we can enjoy, it will be a festive day that we will do before the competition. It will be very special because they will be the first matches of the firm MICFootball in three years. I thank Banyoles City Council and the clubs for their collaboration and participation. ”

The mayor of Banyoles, Miquel Noguer, was pleased that “the city has the opportunity to host a pre-MICFootball tournament, after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic”. Noguer added that “recovering Pre-MICFootball is great news for a city like Banyoles that is clearly committed to sports, also basic”.

Banyoles City Councilor for Sports, Jordi Congost, also emphasized “the opportunity for the sports clubs and young sportsmen of the city’s two football clubs to be able to compete with international teams in our country” .

Banyoles will make the Camp Vell available and the games, of 25 minutes each, will be played between 5pm and 8.40pm. The six teams will be divided into two groups and the final will be played at 8.15pm. The first games will be Atlètic Club Banyoles-FC Central Los Angeles (5pm) and CE Banyoles-Peloteros USA (5.30pm).