Yesterday saw the third round of the group stage of the Development Cup international tournament, where our team faced the youth national team from Belarus. This match was crucial to the group standings, and our boys went into the game fully prepared.

In the other match, Uzbekistan beat Tajikistan, also on 6 points. This meant that the BCS team not only needed a win, but a win with a certain goal difference to reach the final.

BCS starting line-up:

Goalkeeper: Francisco Fernandes Santiago da Costa
Defenders: Everton Pereira Gonçalves, Lucas Gabriel Soares Santos Gomes, Marlon Sousa Silva Oliveira, Pedro Henrique Gabriel Dias
Midfielders: Felipe Lima de Souza, Daniel Silva Pereira Caetano Mariano, Adrian Castro de Souza
Forwards: Gustavo Silva dos Santos, Luiz Felipe Silva Pires Ortogalli, Jamyson Ryan da Silva Oliveira

The Belarusians took the initiative right from the start, threatening our goal several times in the opening minutes. However, our boys withstood the onslaught and gradually began to move the game away from their penalty area. The game levelled out and towards the middle of the first half our players began to create chances in front of goal.

In the 30th minute, after a well played standard, the BCS team opened the scoring! After a great pass from Luiz Felipe Ortogalli, the ball bounced off the defender and into the net. 1-0! With this score the teams went into the break.

After the break, both teams realised that the scoreline did not suit either side - BCS needed to win by a goal difference of 2 or more, and Belarus needed to avoid defeat to reach the final.

The pace of the game picked up considerably, with plenty of fierce challenges on the pitch and the referee showing several yellow cards, but there were few chances for either side.

Towards the end of the game, the Belarusian team started to put a lot of pressure on our goal. Our boys responded with counter-attacks but were unable to score.

Belarus equalised in the 77th minute from a corner kick. The result sent the hosts through to the final. Despite the BCS team's best efforts to mount a last-ditch attack, the score remained 1-1.

📌 Final position in Group A:

1️⃣ Belarus - 7 points 
2️⃣ Uzbekistan - 6 points
3️⃣ BCS - 4 points
4️⃣ Tajikistan - 0 points

Ahead of us is the match for 5-6 places in the Development Cup tournament. Our opponents will be the youth team from Kazakhstan.

Thanks to the guys for fighting until the last minute! We wish you good luck in the final match of the tournament.

Stay tuned and support our team in the Development Cup! 💪⚽

📸 Photos from the second round against Belarus below!