The Toronto FC Academy U-15s are the 2017 Robbie U-16 Tournament Champions after defeating the London Whitecaps U-16s 6-1 on Monday afternoon.
The Robbie Tournament is the world’s largest annual charitable youth soccer tournament. It has been running for over 50 years, with funds raised being donated to Cystic Fibrosis (CF) Canada.
The Tournament is named after Torontonian Robbie Wimbs, who was diagnosed with CF in the 1960s. Wimbs’ father John started the tournament as a means of raising money to help others suffering from CF. Robbie lived with CF until he was 33, but he lives on through the tournament he inspired.
The U-15s opened their tournament with a 1-1 draw against the Durham U-16s on Saturday morning. Julian Accettola had the loan goal for the Reds. The Reds then went on to defeat Bonivital SC U-16 (Winnipeg) 2-1 on Saturday afternoon. Amir Batyrev had a brace in the victory.
The Reds started Sunday off with a great team effort against an undefeated Scarborough Azzuriri U-16. Matthew Wrobel had a goal and Jacen Russell-Rowe added a brace in the 3-0 victory.
They closed out the group stage with an impressive 6-1 victory over the Kitchener U-16s. Russell-Rowe and Theodor Corbeanu both scored twice, and Batyrev and Accettola added the others in the victory.
In the Semi-finals the Reds came up against the Ajax U-16s. Theodor Corbeanu opened the scoring just before the end of the first half. The Reds added two more to defeat Ajax 3-0 and advance to the Robbie final.
In the final, the Reds met the London Youth Whitecaps U-16s at Birchmount Stadium. Julian Accettola opened the scoring on a great feed from Jacen Russell-Rowe. Sebastian Nuzzo doubled the lead with a great finish inside the 18.
London went down a man in the 38th when a player was sent off. Despite the disadvantage, London cut the Reds’ lead in half just before the halftime whistle.
However, shortly after the restart, Theodor Corbeanu hit the frame but Malik Henry pounced on the rebound to restore the Reds’ two-goal lead. Corbeanu got his name on the scoresheet following a beautiful ball from Ralph Priso. Russell-Rowe tapped home his second of the game to give the Reds a 5-1 lead and Accettola converted a 90th-minute penalty kick to make it 6-1.
Julian Accettola took home the Finals MVP for his two-goal effort in the final.
Congratulations to the entire TFC Academy U-15 team for a great Robbie tournament! The event raised over $50,000 for Cystic Fibrosis Canada.
