MUPC World Finals - Day Three

WERDER Bremen became the first team from Germany to reach the Final of the Manchester United Premier Cup at Carrington today.

The German outfit delivered a solid and organised performance in their semi-final, containing Paris Saint Germain's undeniable flair and frustrating their creativity in attack, with the match ending 0:0 in regular time and their defensive ploy finally beating the French side on penalties 4:2.

Earlier in the morning they delivered an outstanding performance against Belgian hopefuls KRC Genk resulting in a 3:0 victory; while Sao Paulo staged a remarkable recovery on the heels of their two losses yesterday. The Brazilians made an impressive start to Day 3 - rocking the stylish and previously unbeaten Atlético de Madrid, also 3:0. The second semi-final saw Sao Paulo crush Right to Dream's chances to go all the way when the Ghanaian team could not convert any of their many chances on goal, and fell victim to a couple of incisive movements resulting in an inevitable 0:2 scoreline.

The grand finale takes place tomorrow (Saturday) at 12.30pm following first team Open Training, when the two best under-15 teams in the world walk out onto the hallowed turf at Old Trafford, the "Theatre of Dreams".

Can Werder Bremen go all the way and become the first ever German MUPC World Champions? - Or will Sao Paulo continue to do what Brazilian teams do best - and win to take the Premier Cup World Title for a second time?

Right to Dream regrouped to finish 3^rd in the Bronze Match of the competition sponsored by NIKE which brought together the top 20 teams from around the world after beating Paris Saint Germain 2:1. The French side, still stunned from the earlier loss on penalties at the hands of the Germans; fell away at the constant pressure applied by the youngsters from Ghana, who finished top of the leaderboard - if only overnight.

Penalties became the order of the day in the top placement matches, with Korea's Boin Middle School taking 5^th place, whilst Colo Colo flew the flag for Chile, delivering a 6^th place finish following a 2:2 result after normal time.

Atlético de Madrid seized the initiative in their penalty shoot-out against KRC Genk to finish their campaign in a creditable 7^th place, the Belgians taking 8^th.

AC Thonburi (9^th) took the initiative from MTK Hungaria(10^th), whilst Orlando Pirates (11^th) beat host club Manchester United (12^th) and the technically brilliant Atlas FC (13^th) took the honours over AS Roma. (14^th)

A single goal was enough for the USA's Alta Loma Arsenal (15^th)  to take the advantage from West Bromwich Albion (16^th) and Marconi Stallions (17^th) won friends with an enthusiastic display in which they beat China's Changchun Yatai (18^th). 

Japan's Gamba Osaka(19^th)  finished their MUPC campaign on a high, with an 11:0 tutorial over India's Salgaocar FC.(20^th)