Glasgow City returned yesterday from the ‘Meet the Champions’ indoor tournament in Germany, hosted by German Champions and two times for Champions League winners Turbine Potsdam.
City were one of seven top European teams hand-picked to take part in the eight team tournament which included Brøndby IF (DEN), 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam (GER), NöSV Neulengbach (AUT), Glasgow City FC (SCO), AC Sparta Prag (CZE), AZS Wroclaw (POL), Djurgårdens IF (SWE) and FC Honka Espoo (FIN).
Competing over two days, City finished second in their group, progressing to the semi-finals, where they were knocked out by Potsdam. This ensured a gamefor third place, which City lost at the hands of Neulengbach, leaving the Scottish Champions in fourth place for the tournament over all, which was won in the end by Danish Champions Brondby who defeated Potsdam 4-3 in the final.
Despite the initial disappointment of not securing third, City Head Coach Eddie Wolecki Black was delighted with the performance of his team who were taking part in a tournament format and surface completely unknown to them, but second nature to the vast majority of the contestants.
He said: "First and foremost we were going into this tournament for the fitness aspect and the small sided games gave us a lot of intensity as we had to go for 100% in short bursts. As a passing team, the expectation before we went was to make the semi-finals. However, seeing the standard of teams involved makes our achievement in doing so even better. As for the new players, it gave them the chance to bond and mix with the team and so it was a brilliant four days and excellent pre-season work-out."
Glasgow City’s next game will be the visit of English Champions Arsenal Ladies, for a ‘Battle of Britain’ match at Petershill Park on Sunday 24th February. Kick Off 2pm. Entry is a cash gate - £5 adults and free for kids.