The ninth edition of the Szeklerland International Youth Football Tournament for U17 teams ended with victory for NK Osijek.

The ninth edition of the Szeklerland International Youth Football Tournament for U17 teams ended with victory for NK Osijek.

Six teams competed at the Burus Csaba Sports Park from Wednesday to Saturday: FK Csíkszereda, CSA Steaua Bucharest, the Puskás Ferenc Football Academy, DAC Dunajská Streda, TSC Bačka Topola and defending champions NK Osijek. Our academy side reached the final with two victories before suffering a 2–1 defeat against the Croatian team.

The participants began the tournament in two groups of three. In Group A, FK Csíkszereda opened with a 4–0 victory over TSC Bačka Topola before also defeating CSA Steaua Bucharest 3–1, finishing top with a perfect record. The Bucharest side claimed second place after beating Bačka Topola 1–0.

In Group B, NK Osijek won both of their matches 2–1, first against DAC Dunajská Streda and then against the Puskás Ferenc Football Academy. Puskás Academy secured their place in the third-place play-off with a 2–1 victory over DAC.

Group A results

FK Csíkszereda–TSC Bačka Topola 4–0 (4–0)
Goalscorers: Klein Tizian (5, 39), Oniga Victor (24), Györfi Bence (36).

CSA Steaua Bucharest–TSC Bačka Topola 1–0
Goalscorer: Lupu Andreas (59).

FK Csíkszereda–CSA Steaua Bucharest 3–1
Goalscorers: Jánosi Zsolt, Oniga Victor, Fazakas Zalán; Bebu Stefan.

Final Group A standings

1. FK Csíkszereda – 2 matches, 6 points, 7–1 goal difference
2. CSA Steaua Bucharest – 2 matches, 3 points, 2–3 goal difference
3. TSC Bačka Topola – 2 matches, 0 points, 0–5 goal difference

Group B results

Puskás Ferenc Football Academy–DAC Dunajská Streda 2–1

NK Osijek–DAC Dunajská Streda 2–1 (1–0)
Goalscorers: Kolar Luka (13), Crnković Krešimir (80); Nagy Zoltán (55).

NK Osijek–Puskás Ferenc Football Academy 2–1

Final Group B standings

1. NK Osijek – 2 matches, 6 points, 4–2 goal difference
2. Puskás Ferenc Football Academy – 2 matches, 3 points, 3–3 goal difference
3. DAC Dunajská Streda – 2 matches, 0 points, 2–4 goal difference

DAC finish fifth, Puskás Academy claim bronze

DAC Dunajská Streda defeated TSC Bačka Topola 2–1 in the fifth-place play-off.

The Puskás Ferenc Football Academy recorded a convincing victory in the third-place play-off. The Felcsút side led CSA Steaua Bucharest by only one goal at half-time but struck three more times in the second half to claim the bronze medals with a 4–0 win.

Fifth-place play-off:
TSC Bačka Topola–DAC Dunajská Streda 1–2

Third-place play-off:
Puskás Ferenc Football Academy–CSA Steaua Bucharest 4–0 (1–0)
Goalscorers: Mester Milán (38), Mitric Dragan (52), Mészáros Magor (58), Horváth Áron (79).

Two early goals decide the final

NK Osijek took the lead with two early goals in the final, Kolar Luka scoring in the eighth minute and Cipar Josip in the 13th. Our team pulled one back through Györfi Bence just three minutes later.

FK created several opportunities as the match progressed but were unable to find an equaliser. Osijek also had chances, but there were no further goals, meaning the Croatian side lifted the trophy again after securing a 2–1 victory.

Final:
FK Csíkszereda–NK Osijek 1–2 (1–2)
Goalscorers: Györfi Bence (16); Kolar Luka (8), Cipar Josip (13).

FK Csíkszereda: Kajtár András – Lukács Bence, Keresztes Ákos, Hella Dániel, Fülöp Farkas, Györfi Bence, Fazakas Zalán, Oniga Victor, Orbán Hunor, Jánoska Krisztián, Szabó Örs.
Substitutes: Bâlbâe Róbert, Nagy Dániel, Miklós Elemér Béla, Fazakas Gellért, Hegedűs Krisztián, Casian Enrik, Jánosi Zsolt, Klein Tizian, Pataki Seitan Dávid, Ambrus Lukács.
Head coach: Mitra Szilárd.

Final tournament standings

1. NK Osijek
2. FK Csíkszereda
3. Puskás Ferenc Football Academy
4. CSA Steaua Bucharest
5. DAC Dunajská Streda
6. TSC Bačka Topola

Individual awards

FK Csíkszereda’s Györfi Bence was named the tournament’s best player. Puskás Ferenc Football Academy player Mitric Dragan claimed the top goalscorer award, while NK Osijek’s Tolić Petar was named the tournament’s best goalkeeper.

The awards were presented by Horváth Péter, technical director of Puskás Academy; Varga Károly, technical director of the Carpathian Basin Academy System; Dusinszki Zoltán, technical director of the Székely Land Football Academy; and Cseke Szilárd, operations director of FK Csíkszereda.

Congratulations to tournament winners NK Osijek and all the award recipients! We thank the participating teams, players and coaching staff, as well as everyone involved in organising and staging the competition, for contributing to the success of the tournament!