MAD FS wins the ‘2023 Gatorade 5v5 Women’s Championship’ to become the strongest futsal team in the country.
MAD FS defeated Daejeon NIMBLE in a penalty shootout in the final of the ‘2023 Gatorade 5v5 Women’s Championship,’ Korea’s premier amateur women’s futsal tournament, held at HM Futsal Park Siheung on April 4.
MAD FS, the winners of the Busan tournament, have now won all six tournaments they have competed in this year, including other tournaments.
MAD FS’ road to victory was not an easy one. The biggest challenge came in the quarterfinals against Ghetto Rangers. The Siheung tournament winners, Ghetto Rangers, were the “absolute favorites” of the tournament, having won the regional tournament with 32 points and no goals. In the actual game, the Ghetto Rangers dominated possession. In response, MAD FS cleverly played a ‘click tactic’ to slow down the game tempo and aim for one shot, and eventually reached the final after a penalty shootout.
The final match against NIMBLE was also a hard-fought battle. While NIMBLE had relatively more physical strength, MAD FS was quite exhausted, with players collapsing on the ground in exhaustion at the end of each match. However, MAD FS held on until the end of the overtime period and went to penalty kicks once again, winning the championship with goalkeeper Kim Mi-kyung’s saves.
“I’m happy that we were able to win the last tournament we participated in this year, and it was even better that we were able to meet strong teams from all over the country in this tournament and have a good experience,” said Lim Ha-kyung, who won the MVP award. “We won all six tournaments we competed in, but this championship was especially hard, and it wasn’t easy, but our teammates made it happen,” said Lim, giving credit to her teammates.
“Our goalkeeper (Kim) Mi-kyung is really good and reliable. We were confident that we could win the penalty shootout. When it was all over, I thought, ‘We won. I was happy,” she said.
In conclusion, Lim said, “I will prepare well next year and challenge for a second consecutive title.”
The highly successful Gatorade 5v5 Women’s Tournament kicked off in Siheung last September and held qualifiers in eight regions, including Pyeongtaek, Seoul, Cheonan, Jeonju, Busan, Changwon, and Ulsan, with a total of 200 teams and more than 4,000 female futsal enthusiasts participating. 토토사이트
The tournament is organized by sports marketing company HNS, with Gatorade as a partner.