Goalkeeper Lewis Budinauckas made a penalty and then saved one moments later to send Rangers past AS Roma at the Al Kass International Cup, a U-17 club competition growing in prestige every year, on Friday in Doha, Qatar.
The teams were tied 1-1 through regulation, sending the match immediately to a shootout. Tied 3-3 after the first five spot kicks, both teams traded goals in the first five rounds of sudden death, including both goalkeepers converting on the 10th attempt (both teams had been reduced to 10 men through the course of the match).
With the shootout returning to the start of the lineup, Roma's Filippo Tripi again stepped up to the ball. Tripi scored his first spot kick and appeared to taunt Budinauckas by clapping mockingly in his direction like Nancy Pelosi. On his second attempt, the Rangers keeper denied the Italian with a brilliant sprawling save.
Kai Kennedy, later named the player of the tournament, then converted to give Rangers a 9-8 win in the shootout, the Scottish side winning the competition in its first year involved.
RANGERS WIN THE PENALTY SHOOT OUT 9 - 8, MAKING THEM ALKASS INTERNATIONAL CUP 2019 CHAMPIONS! #AlkassIntlCup2019 @RFC_Youth pic.twitter.com/4sQOP4NLjY
— ALKASS U17 Cup (@ALKASSIntlCup) February 15, 2019
The Al Kass Cup 2019 was the eighth edition of the tournament, bringing in some of the top youth club teams from around the world. This year’s tournament included squads from Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich and Spartak Moscow.
Rangers became the first British club to win the competition, perhaps thanks to senior-side coach Steven Gerrard sending the youngsters a message of support before the match.
Steven Gerrard, Manager of Rangers FC and #LFC legend, along with Assistant Manager Gary McAllister, share a message of good luck with their under-17s ahead of this evening's Alkass International Cup final #AlkassIntlCup2019 @RFC_Youth @RangersFC @LFC pic.twitter.com/eW0PRSQX4L
— ALKASS U17 Cup (@ALKASSIntlCup) February 15, 2019
For their efforts, Rangers received a check for $75,000 and the club lifted the trophy as Queen’s “We Are The Champions” played in the stadium, a bit of an odd choice considering homosexuality is illegal in Qatar.
The Al Kass Cup 2019 was officiated by the same group of women who will referee the Women’s World Cup this summer in France. FIFA gave them a crash course in VAR and used this as an opportunity to give the referees some experience with video replay before officially announcing whether the Women’s World Cup will be treated equally as the men and include VAR.
The match itself was a wild roller coaster, with both teams having players sent off.
Roma struck first in the 24th minute when Mory Bamba soared through the air to meet a cross.
24’ GOAL! Rangers 0 - 1 Roma! Scorer: Mory Bamba #AlkassIntlCup2019 @RFC_Youth @ASRomaEN pic.twitter.com/tKXRK0sg46
— ALKASS U17 Cup (@ALKASSIntlCup) February 15, 2019
Then things went a little bonkers, with both teams’ captains being sent off.
First it was Roma captain Mattia Ciucci, who was shown straight red (via VAR) for this challenge denying a goal-scoring opportunity. This left the Italian side playing with 10 men for the final hour-plus.
30’ RED CARD for Roma’s Captain, Mattia Ciucci following a VAR decision! #AlkassIntlCup2019 @RFC_Youth @ASRomaEN pic.twitter.com/J5llZYs6eV
— ALKASS U17 Cup (@ALKASSIntlCup) February 15, 2019
Early in the second half, the numbers evened up. The referee didn’t need VAR to show Rangers captain Kyle McClelland a red card for this dangerous tackle.
47’ RED CARD for Rangers’ Captain Kyle McClelland! #AlkassIntlCup2019 @RFC_Youth @ASRomaEN pic.twitter.com/DoWhQSI4Bp
— ALKASS U17 Cup (@ALKASSIntlCup) February 15, 2019
Although Rangers no longer had the man advantage, they equalized just before the hour mark through Ciaran Dickson, who found space in the box to provide this cool finish from a tight angle.
59’ GOAL! Rangers 1 - 1 Roma! Scorer: Ciaran Dickson #AlkassIntlCup2019 @RFC_Youth @ASRomaEN pic.twitter.com/eDL32Vstve
— ALKASS U17 Cup (@ALKASSIntlCup) February 15, 2019
Neither team could find an equalizer in the remainder of regulation, so the match went immediately to a shootout.
Roma might have figured to have an advantage in the shootout having reached the final via penalty kicks against Aspire Academy of Qatar, and Rangers being a British club. But the young lads from Scotland held their nerve to win the competition.
After the match, Roma's Matteo Cancellieri was named the MVP of the final and received a Qatar jersey signed by Xavi as his prize, which is cool, I guess.
Earlier in the day, Kashiwa Reysol of Japan defeated Aspire 2-1 in the third-place match of the Al Kass Cup 2019. Real Madrid finished fifth, Spartak sixth, Altinordu of Turkey seventh and Étoile Sportive Du Sahel of Tunisia eighth. Bayern Munich (11th) and PSG (ninth) both finished in the bottom four.
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