Winnipeg Free Press - Lusitania gives big soccer clubs a scare

Wednesday, August 25th, 2004

By Julie Horbal

Although FC Lusitania was eliminated from the Manitoba Soccer Association Cup Senior Men's quarter-finals last night, the fact they were playing in the playoffs was enough to make their season a victory.

"We're your classic Cinderella story," said George Cabral, head coach of the Lusitania team that rose from the basement of the MSA ranks to make it to yesterday's game.

"We've got a lot of heart and a lot of skill. Our run has been unbelievable. I think the guys really enjoyed us entering into the MSA Cup and nobody expected us to get even this far."
As a third division team, Lusitania was matched up against teams two divisions above them when they entered the MSA Cup . They lasted all the way until last weekend before suffering their first loss of the year.

Lusitania fell 1-0 to Ital-Inter in yesterday's quarter-final at the Vince Leah Community Centre, but the determination they showed throughout the season was nothing short of spectacular.
"To play soccer, you need a lot of skill, but to do it well you need a lot of heart," Cabral said. "And we did it. All my guys here, their heads are held up high because we had a good game today. We showed them you can compare a premier division team to a third division team, we really proved that."

According to Cabral, premier teams like Ital-Inter have skill, but more importantly the financial backing to allow them to succeed the way they do.

Lusitania's sponsorships fall short of many teams in the league, but Cabral says his team will use this year to fuel their way upward in the divisions - with or without the thousands of dollars that other teams use to get to the premier division.

"This is the best year we've had," said Cabral. "It's great, there's nothing more I can say. These guys have a good time and we respect ourselves and every opponent we go up against. We've got nothing to be embarrassed about."

In other men's quarter-final action going on last night, Lucania defeated South End Celtics 8-0, while on the women's side Nova defeated Black Magic 1-0 and the Classics fell 2-1 to Sweat Shack.

MSA men's and women's semifinals go Friday night at 6 p.m. at Vince Leah Community Centre and Red River College, respectively.

julie.horbal@freepress.mb.ca