Club Maurice Underdogs: A New Beginning

They refer to themselves as "underdogs", but newcomers to the Champions Cup Tournament, Club Maurice Underdogs (CMU), is composed of experienced players. They have been playing together since 2006 in various (outdoor) soccer leagues such as the Williams Bucks Soccer League and the Victorian Amateur League and have achieved much success. However, their participation in the Champions Cup marks their first attempt in a futsal tournament.

The team, led by goal-keeper Kenny Lam, is a young side with three-quarters of their players under 25 years of age. The team is made up of the following players:
Kenny Lam (captain and goal-keeper)
Kenny Choon
Teddy Choon
Mervyn Lam
Dean Lau
Gerald Wong
Ken Lo

Other teams would be remiss to underestimate CMU based solely on its players' age. Captain Kenny Lam states:

One thing I can say is that the boys play with great maturity and I'm confident they will deliver a good performance during the tournament.

Kenny Lam is no stranger to the Champions Cup as he is the former goal-keeper of the current champions, The Replacements. In the last tournament, whilst playing for The Replacements, he performed admirably and only conceded 9 goals in the entire tournament (The Replacements played a total of 7 games). To date, this is the lowest number of goals conceded a Champions Cup tournament, a feat equaled in the same tournament by Tombeau Bay FC's goal-keeper, Edouard Whan Kan. However, Tombeau Bay FC only played 6 games in the tournament as they were defeated in the semi-finals by The Replacements. To put matters into perspective, the highest number of goals conceded in that tournament was 27 goals.

It is clear that Kenny Lam knows exactly what the level of competition in the tournament is and what it takes to emerge triumphant. It is also clear that he has the individual skills as a goal-keeper to provide a solid last man defence for his team.

Kenny Lam looks forward to challenging each and every team in the upcoming Spring 2009 Tournament, however, he is particularly looking forward to the clash against The Replacements as their captain, Jason Cheong, has stated that The Replacements is looking for fresh new challenges in this tournament.

His parting with The Replacements to lead CMU was amicable and he has obvious respect for his former team:

The Replacements are a really good team with decent players. They play good passing football.

CMU is in high spirits, as their captain describes:

The lads are in a really good mood, especially after a long and stressing period of university exams. The boys want to have fun and want new challenges before the next season of soccer begins. We are confident we can do well.

CMU states that they are not looking for an instant coronation, but with the runners-up of the Winter 2009 Tournament, Camion Lichien, missing in action, can this new young side provide The Replacements with the fresh new challenge they are calling for? One thing's for sure, CMU relishes their underdog status:

Life is never more fun than when you're the underdog competing against the giants!

Will David bring down Goliath? Only the Champions Cup clash will tell.