last week, reaching the quarter-finals of the Holland Cup in Amsterdam.

Accompanied by coach Kenny Thompson, assistant coach Shannon Morrissey, manager Bray Saltus and one parent, Cecil Williams, the 19-player squad played five matches in their Under-12 division.

They beat Manhattan United 2-1 and drew 1-1 with a team from England in their first two matches, Fiqre Crockwell scoring all three goals.

Eagles saved their best performances for their third and fourth outings when they hammered Danish team Marienlyst Boldklub 12-0 and then beat Melita FC of Malta 4-0.

In the 12-0 win, Vashun Blanchette scored four, Roydon Brangman three, Crockwell two and Tyrell Burgess, Keishon Bean and Damon Swan one apiece.

In the win over Malta, which took them into the quarter-finals where they lost 4-0 to a Dutch team, Brangman scored another hat-trick and Kenny Tucker one.

The Eagles team were boosted by the inclusion of guest players Brangman and Burgess of Somerset Trojans, Jacobi Robinson of Dandy Town, Crockwell of St.

David's and Freddie Hall of St. George's. A youngster from Florida, Kidon Craig, also played in the side.

Some 30 teams competed in the Under-12 age group from countries including Japan, Malta, Denmark, England, Holland, Sweden and Italy. A team from Ireland came out on top.

Overall there were more than 150 teams in the various junior divisions which ranged from Under-10 to Under-19.

Thompson said this week he was pleased with the way his youngsters performed on foreign soil.

"The standard of play was very high,'' he said.

"Overall there was probably one weak team in each group judging by the scores. There was a lot of high intensity which our players are not used to, but we managed to raise our level to meet the other teams.

"Technically we were pretty much equal to the other teams.'' Thompson said the tour had received the blessing of Bermuda Football Association and it was hoped Bermuda could return next year, maybe with two or three teams.

Thompson will be a local agent for Euro Sportsring which organises European tours.

"When I was working in the US I normally went to a coaches' convention each year. There was a lot of information and I found out about these tournaments,'' he added.

The players raised the funds themselves with various events throughout the year. "We gave the responsibility to the players to raise this amount,'' said Thompson.

"The whole idea was to develop an independent mentality for each player rather than give them $1,500 to go to Holland.

"I think they had a really good time, especially from a footballing standpoint.'' The group also toured Ajax Arena, home of famous Ajax Football Club.

"Outside of the football, the experience was wonderful. They learned a lot about different cultures and they shopped in the famous shopping district of central Amsterdam,'' said Thompson.

"They also had a reporter and cameraman follow them throughout. They will be writing a story next week for an Amsterdam newspaper, De Echo.''