MedCup 2023

At the end of April 2023, IIL took part in the MedCup, a football tournament for international schools from Europe, Africa and the Middle East held over 3 days in Verona. Find out how our teams fought to finish 1st and 7th out of a total of 66 teams. 

On Thursday 27^th April, IIL travelled to Verona in Italy to participate in the Mediterranean Cup. It was promised to be the biggest Med Cup ever as 66 International schools would participate from all over Europe, Africa and the Middle East. 

IIL had a boys and a girls team representing the school in their two separate categories. 

On day one, the girls began their group stage with two comprehensive wins 2-0 vs St Georges International school of Rome and 5-0 against EIS Padua. Just before lunch the girls battled in a close fought game to a 1-1 draw with SG Luxembourg. The boys also started brightly with 3 resounding wins against IS Milan, Is Mougins and SLS Caviglia. 

In the afternoon, the girls seemed to get stronger as they went on to win 3-0 vs IC Brussels, 3-0 vs IS Eindhoven and 1-0 against our Swiss counterparts, La Chataignerie B. The boys continued where they left off with a 1-1 draw vs IS Eindhoven and a 2-0 victory over NIS Bahrain. 

At the end of the 1^st day both the boys and girls topped their groups in 1^st place meaning they had qualified for the Elite rounds on the 2^nd day. 

After both qualifying for the elite stages, the boys and the girls knew they had to up their game on the second day to compete at the highest level. The girls began with a tough draw against HIS Rosa 1-1 before fighting hard for victory against IS Sotogrande winning 1-0. The boys found it tough on the second day, losing 2-1 in their 1^st two matches vs AIS Bucharest and Ambrit Rome. 

With all still left to play for, IIL had to really dig deep to find their energy levels and progress. The girls came out firing on all cylinders beating AOES Rome 4-1 and the boys played out a 1-1 draw with CS Bucharest. The girls finished 1^st in their group once more and awaited to find out who they would meet in the semi finals later in the evening. It turned out to be SC Luxembourg who they had already faced in a close game the day before. The boys could not qualify for the A semi finals but had another game for the chance to finish 5-6th  in the Elite. 

The girls pulled out an incredible performance and gave their all against their tough oppostition and came out victorious with a 2-0 win meaning they would play in the final on the Sunday. The boys fought hard once more and were again unlucky in their efforts, playing out a 0-0 draw to which they then lost on penalties. They would play for 7^th and 8^th in the Elite group on Sunday. 

In the evening, all of our students had the chance to visit the city of Verona and take in sights, eat ice cream and buy souvenirs. 

On the final day of the trip, our students had to muster up every last ounce of energy to play in their last game. 

The boys played out yet another draw in their final game, but on this occasion came out victorious on penalties meaning they finished 7^th out of 38 teams in total and holding their heads high in a very respectable position. The girls once more came up against an opponent they had already faced the day before, HIS Rome. Both the teams could not be separated at full time playing out a 1-1 draw once more and so the tie was to be decided by penalties. 

In a tense shootout where each team took 9 penalties each with non stop drama, eventually it came down to our goalkeeper to decide the match. She stepped up calmly and dispatched her penalty with ease before stopping the oppostion with a great save meaning IIL were crowned champions of the Mediterranean Cup 2023. 

Overall, the whole weekend was a success with great atmosphere and cohesion of our students with 3 different year groups mixed from the English and French sections.

We are proud of all of our students. Congratulations!