Due to Saturday’s loss against IF Brommapojkana in the Quarter-Final the boys entered the fifth place play-off, taking on the reigning champions Atletico Madrid at the Polideportivo José Caballero.
Charlton Athletic 3 (0) Atletico Madrid 3 (2)
Both sides topped their respective groups but were defeated in their Quarter-Final ties with Atletico tasting defeat against Real Madrid prior.
The Addicks started the game on the front foot and went ahead inside the sixth minute, Kelechi Ffrench – who featured in the Team of the Tournament – tapped in on the volley at the back post following a superb delivery into the box.
Charlton’s excellent start was soon cancelled out just five minutes later, Rocco Alexander made an incredible save to deny their winger who surged in on goal one-on-one, unfortunately for the shot-stopper their centre forward rose high and headed home the rebound to level the scoring.
The boys responded well from the set-back and regained the lead just three minutes after the equaliser. Ayden St-Aimie won a free-kick just wide of the penalty box and struck a sneaky pass toward the near post, the ball was deflected into the back of the Atletico net and Lauren Rodrigues de Castro ran off in celebration.
Despite their consistent efforts to maintain a lead, the young Addicks were cruelly punished shortly after netting their second. A mishap in communication down the right hand side saw the Atletico winger burst through towards the box, the winger did well to get the ball out from under his feet and square to the number nine to rifle home from close range.
The end-to-end encounter continued to produce a number of promising opportunities for either side but the young Addicks thought they had snatched the winner with five minutes remaining. Kingsley Onwuka received the ball on the edge of the box and thundered his effort into the upper right for Charlton to take the lead for the third time of the clash.
It was a devastating finish to the tie as Atletico levelled the scoring once again with the final kick of the game. Their midfielder swung in a perfectly weighted corner to the centre of the box for a defender to tap in from close range.
With the scores level at full-time, the fixture was set to be decided through a penalty shootout. Theo Laronde stepped up first for Charlton and his effort was fired over the bar, with Atletico netting their first.
Onwuka stood up to the plate next and hammered his effort towards the side netting, unbelievably the Atletico shot-stopper parried the ball away. With Charlton failing to score either of their penalties, Atletico needed to score to claim the fifth place finish and that they did, a fantastic finish into the top left.
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Article by Alex Forrest