For days there has been an air of happiness in the territory of Girona on the occasion of MICFootball, the Costa Brava international base football tournament. But it can still be done more intensely when things go well. “We are very happy. Everything is going as planned. It has nothing to do with last year, because there were still some post-pandemic effects. This edition we were able to bring back the participants from 2019″, he confesses Juanjo Roviradirector of the tournament which, until tomorrow, will host more than 800 matches between the 344 teams involvedcoming from 33 different countries.
“We have reached the record number of participantswith more than 30,000 between those we control and those accompanying them”, explains Rovira, who emphasizes that the organization controls nearly 8,000 people and there are more than 30,000 full pensions. “On the day of the inauguration, for example, they came 67 pairs of Madrid – who won the Albion San Diego of the United States with an 8-0 thrashing – who have organized the trip on their own”, he adds.
So far, everything is going smoothly, except for some injury, common in a sports competition, and some external unforeseen events in the first few days, such as the traffic typical of Easter on the Costa Brava and an accident on the road that forced to cut the traffic “This has gone against us, in the same way that time has been in our favorr», explains Rovira, referring to the summer temperatures these days.
At this stage of the tournament, with the qualifiers still in play, they are already starting to happen first surprises. Yesterday afternoon, for example, the Girona (U12-1) eliminated Barça on penalties (4-3) and so did the Lloret (youth U19) in Vila-real, also in the penalty shootout (4-2).
In addition, the ninth edition of the inclusive tournament was also contested yesterday MICIntegra, the championship for athletes with other abilities with a total of 19 participating teams, where the team from Lleida was crowned UE Balafia Pibody after beating CD Torre Baró (3-0) in the final of the Motivació Or phase, made up of those teams that had finished the first stage of the competition in first place. “Once again it’s a real boost of energy for everyone to see the happy faces of the players. With the medal hanging around their neck, they go home as if they had won the Champions League”, comments Rovira.
The MIC is a festival of sport and brotherhood, but also an injection for the regions of Girona. “The MIC is a very good start to the hospitality and tourism campaign, especially sports, which starts at Easter. And I hope it continues”, shares Rovira. “We have made the tournament our own and we are all rowing and blowing in the same dimension”, he adds. From start to finish, the MIC is a party, both on and off the pitch.