The aim of this blog entry is not only to share our experiences in Paris as a school, but also our experiences that brought us together as a Football Team.
First of all we must thank those coordinators from I.E. Business School who were present to assist us during our time in Paris, Colette and Marianne.
Also, we must thank Gatorade for supplying us with their thirst quenching powder, allowing us to endure longer and hydrate ourselves before, during and after the games.
Our Adventure started on Thursday May 7th right after final exams, which to many of us were two 2 weeks of torture and intense studying. The great majority of players arrived in Paris at 7:40 pm on an EasyJet flight.
The first night in Paris didn’t have any highlights beside the fact that we had to go to bed so we could rest for the first day of games.
Upon arriving to HEC the next day to register with the school, we were informed that a change of rules of the tournament would only allow the first of each of the pool stages to advance to the knock-out stage. Initially we were told that the first two teams would advance to play, so the decision came at a surprise to us.
We got paired up with Cranfield University from England and Erasmus Rotterdam from Holland in the group stage. Our first game against the British team showed our clear superiority in skills, endurance, and tactical preparation. A clear win 5-0 gave us motivation to continue on our way to lead the group. The defense was flawless, midfielders were working hard going forward and while defending, and the forwards showed ambition and effectiveness. Our scorers were Eduardo, Jeremy, Andres, and Zsolt with two goals.
After the game, we had a gap of more than two hours to fill so the team went for food on the main campus, a little over 15 minutes away from where we were playing.
Technically speaking, here is where we noticed that the MBAT was not as organized as we thought it would be. Upon returning from the main campus, we realized food was served at the site where football matches were being held, which could have saved us the effort of going to the HEC campus and back. Thanks for the heads up HEC!
Our second game against Rotterdam was more challenging but we again proved to be superior in every way possible, and although we were more tired due to the previous game, we managed to score 2 goals, leaving our goals against count to zero. Our scorers this time were Zsolt, and Andres after an amazing play by Jeremy who headed the ball towards the goal only to be pushed inside. Another highlight of the game was an amazing shot by Luis that was surprisingly blocked by the Rotterdam goalie.
After this game, the organization of the event got trickier as the HEC organizing committee started putting organizational difficulties for IE FC to win the tournament, as they saw we were clearly superior than the rest.
We were supposed to be matched in a semifinal against the winner of group C, but because many teams complained of the short tournament, the rules changed and quarterfinals were added along the way.
Not surprisingly, we got tied up with the second best team on the tournament, Spring Fling’s winner IESE year 1. It is important to mention that last time we played against each other we tied 1-1, with IE leading the whole game, which ended with IESE tying in the last minute by an unfortunate oversight by our defense.
The game against IESE promised to be an amazing match, which resulted in an intense yet passionate rivalry on the field. Our team started strong in all areas, the defense being most impeccable and accurate. The midfielders creating opportunities and destroying IESE’s game while forwards pressured their game in the back, while having amazing opportunities that almost ended in goals.
While the whole team was playing a perfect game, Ramon, our midfielder created occasion after occasions, dribbling through their team, driving them crazy with his superb dribbling capabilities and almost scoring a bicycle goal in the first half.
The game ended 0-0 after the two official halves and two periods of overtime. Pnealties were going to decide the winner.
Unfortunately, this is how HEC MBAT ended for our great team, again beaten in penalties by an inferior, yet good, team which ultimately came to win the whole tournament without rivalry after encountering us.
While this loss left a bitter feeling of failure, we came together as a great team, knowing that we lost to the champions in penalties, but where they only had one clear chance of scoring.
It is important to mention that no one scored a single goal in game time against us, while we scored 7 goals in 3 games.
After this great experience as a team, we are looking forward for the next challenge, which might take us to University of California Los Angeles, UCLA for short, in a tournament that promises to be one of the toughest in the MBA sports world.
We hope that each and every team member feels as satisfied as most of us are about having built this amazing team, successfully bringing together different cultures, nationalities and playing styles on the field.
