The district final of the Merkur CUP in sight, the ball firmly in sight: Markt Schwaben's boys (right) have home rights, Glonn was eliminated in the preliminary round in Ebersberg. © Stefan Rossmann
MERKUR CUP: The district final of the best eight U11 teams will take place on Thursday in Markt Schwaben.
Markt Schwaben – The weather forecast for Father's Day is good (as of Tuesday). Sometimes cloudy, sometimes sunny, not too hot or cold – ideal conditions for young footballers. On Thursday, 18 May, the district final of the 29th edition of the Merkur CUP will take place in the Markt Schwabener Sportpark. It starts at 10 a.m. with the march of the teams (9.45 a.m. coaches' briefing) and the reading of the Fair Play Code, before the ball rolls from 10.30 a.m. at the world's largest e-junior tournament of its kind.
The game is played in parallel on two fields. In two groups of four teams each, the two semi-finalists will be sought first, then all positions will be played out in the placement matches (from 13.15 p.m.). The final will take place at around 14.55 pm.
All U11 teams will receive nice prizes at the award ceremony afterwards. In addition to the ESB Fairness Prize (one set of jerseys), these include the two tickets for the CUP district final, which the two finalists will grab. The Ebersberg district winner will also receive a set of jerseys, donated by the local Merkur CUP partner, Raiffeisen-Volksbank Ebersberg.
The organizer of the tournament is Alexander Peters, small field manager at the host SpVgg Markt Schwabener Au. Together with a large team of helpers, he will ensure that everything runs smoothly. "The physical well-being will not be neglected either," Peters promises. The SpVgg will fire up the grill, but there will also be fries, sandwiches and crêpes. Coffee, many cakes and drinks of almost all kinds also attract visitors to the stands. "But there will be no alcohol," emphasizes SpVgg managing director Ulf Schulmeyer, "after all, it's a youth tournament."
On the other hand, the young footballers will provide the sporting flair, many goals and certainly a lot of excitement. Host Markt Schwaben was pleased about the surprising progress of his U11s in the preliminary round and "that we can host the district final again," said Schulmeyer. In its Group 2, SpVgg will face TSV Grafing, TSV Ebersberg and SG Anzing/Parsdorf as outsiders. In Group 1, in addition to the boys of the defending champion SC Baldham-Vaterstetten, the highly rated teams of TSV Poing, TSV Zorneding and TSV Pliening are also in action.
The 29th Merkur CUP 2023 is the world's largest e-youth tournament. It is organized by the Münchner Merkur with the BFV and supported by the premium sponsors ESB Energie Südbayern, Radio Arabella and uhlsport. FC Bayern Munich and SpVgg Unterhaching are also supporting the tournament. ESB is also a fair play partner of the Merkur CUP and a sponsor of the sustainability project. Raiffeisen-Volksbank Ebersberg is supporting the tournament as a local partner.