The World Sevens Tournament kicks off today at 17:00 UK Time, with Manchester City vs. FC Rosengård in the opening match. Each game will run for 30 minutes on half-size pitches, promising fast-paced action. To heighten the drama, extra time will use a golden goal format, followed by a sudden death penalty shootout if needed. It’s a recipe for three thrilling days of football. Find out what Nick Cushing has to say about the W7T.
Relishing the challenge
“We want to have the ball and play attacking football when we play in our regular season, so this format really suits us and the style of players we’ve got,” Cushing explained.
“Our methodology and philosophy sort of transmits into it and translates into this game really well. It’s fast, it’s going to be a fast game and physically really tough, the two 15-minute halves, so there’s going to be a lot of rotation of players and roll on roll off subs.
“I think it’s going to be a really exciting form of the game.vIt’s been interesting to change the format of the way we play the game, the size of the pitch and obviously taking out offsides.
“It’s been fun, so we’re excited for the tournament. I think the good part of this week is we’ve had time to prepare for it, play large parts of training in the format we’re going to play. It’s going to be fun.”
Manchester City Squad for the World Sevens Tournament
15-players traveled to Estoril, Portugal, for the World Sevens Tournament:
Naomi Layzell
Laura Coombs
Eve Annets
Laura Wienroither
Kerolin Nicoli
Jess Park
Poppy Pritchard
Laura Blindkilde Brown
Aoba Fujino
Gracie Prior
Aemu Oyama
Khiara Keating
Codie Thomas
Lily Murphy
Mayzee Davies
An opportunity for the young players
As you can see, the squad consists of a lot of young players and Cushing thinks this is a massive opportunity for them:
“We’ve got some really good established players who’ll give us the chance to be competitive in the tournament,” he added.
“But there’s also a huge opportunity for potential players like Mayzee [Davies] and Codie [Thomas] will get opportunities to stake a claim for further minutes next year, it’s a great opportunity for them.”
Manchester City is in Group 1 with FC Rosengård, Ajax and Bayern Munich.
All the matches are streamed live on DAZN.
How does the World Sevens Tournament work?
A match runs for 30 minutes with two 15-minute halves and a 5-minute half-time break.
Played on a half-size pitch
No offsides.
Throw ins remain as normal.
Unlimited rolling substitutes.
If the match finishes level at the end of the 30 minutes, an additional five minutes is added to determine a winner. In the extra time, the teams are reduced to five players. As soon as one of the sides scores, the game is over (golden goal format). If still tied, a sudden death penalty shootout follows.
World Sevens Tournament Schedule
World Sevens Tournament
Wednesday, May 21
17:00 BST
18:00 BST
19:00 BST
20:00 BST
Thursday, May 22
13:30 BST
14:30 BST
15:30 BST
16:30 BST
18:30 BST
19:30 BST
20:30 BST
21:30 BST
Friday, May 23
15:00 BST
16:30 BST
18:30 BST
20:00 BST
21:00-21:30