Sunday 30 August 2009

John constantly trains in the garden!

John beat his record of 493 keepie uppies whilst visiting friends at Wentworth Golf course in England on 14th August 2009!  The new score to beat is 554..... we will let you know when that happens!  In the meantime, you can see a short video of just a few keepie uppies on You Tube.

Futbol Carrasco Team Benjamin vs Sevilla junio 2009

Futbol Carrasco Team beat Sevilla in the finals!


The second phase of the Futbol Carrasco cup was a knock-out tournament where the Selected Futbol Carrasco team was to compete with against Velez-Malaga, Sevilla and Rincon de la Victoria.  The FC Team made their selectors proud by beating Rincon de la Victoria with a stunning 9-0 score in the semi-finals.  They came up against hot favourites Sevilla in the finals, and managed a well fought 2-2 draw.  Penalties decided the final outcome, and Futbol Carrasco team won the shoot-out 4-2 to take the title.

John is selected for the FC Carrasco Team


During the Carrasco Cup, the scouts were out to select their team of individuals to play in a knockout tournament the following week, where Sevilla FC would be amongst the challengers.  John was selected to join this team along with his team-mates Youself and Sergio Esteban, and some other familiar faces from the Malaga selections.

Futbol Carrasco Cup 2009 - Peña los Compadres pick up another trophy!


The Futbol Carrasco Cup took place in late June 2009, and Peña los Compadres were delighted to be invited to take part in this prestigious event, which is attended by all the best provincial teams - most of whom had also been at the Campeonato de Andalucia.  After a hot and tough day of football, Peña Compadres played their hearts out and came through champions to pick up the much coveted Carrasco Cup.

Peña los Compadres - semi-finalists Campeonato de Andalucia


As league winners, Peña los Compadres Benjamin A team were invited to play in the Campeonato de Andalucia, "Champions League".  After drawing against favourites Malaga CF in the first round, against all odds, they stepped up their game and went on to convincingly beat them in the first meeting away from home, and hold them to a draw in the return match at home.  Next meeting was against rivals Peña Malaga, who they also knocked out.  However, two tight games against Velez-Malaga resulted in draws 5-5 and 3-3, so they narrowly missed out on going to the finals with less away goals.

Malaga Trials 2009

John made it to the pre-selections of the Malaga province team, and attended several trials.  Although he didn't make it to the final 12, he very much enjoyed the experience and congratulated his two team-mates Yousef and Sergio Esteban, who made in through these very competitive trials to represent Malaga in the Andalucia Cup.

First season at Peña los Compadres - League Winners


After two seasons at las Chapas, John was invited to join Marbella team, Peña los Compadres, where he soon became a key member in the midfield of the Benjamin A team, wearing shirt No.6.  They enjoyed a fantastic year, and won every home and away game to convincingly win the league, as well as several mini-tournaments.


Las Chapas, Marbella

At age 7, John joined Las Chapas football club, East of Marbella, where he played midfielder in the Benjamín A team, and ejoyed a great season, ending third in the league.

Training at El Palmar beach

One of John's preferred training sites whilst living in Arcos de la Frontera was the fantastic white sands of El Palmar beach on the Costa de la Luz.

Arcos de la Frontera


At age 5, John's family moved to Arcos de la Frontera, where he soon joined local 7 a-side team El Santiscal, and wore another yellow strip (Back row 4th from left).  Their first match was against a team with a white strip, and John turned round excitedly to his dad and asked "Are we playing Real Madrid?"!  Another highlight of that season was a 7-0 win at Jedula, when John scored 4 of the goals and came off the pitch asking if they had won.

Massanet de la Selva

A keen ball player since his early days, John joined a team as soon as possible, at age 3!  At this time his family lived in Catalunya, so his first team was Massanet de la Selva, where he wore a bright yellow shirt and whatever number was available.  Magnet ball enjoyed by all, but there was always one little boy who seemed to leave the scrum with the ball at his feet!