Mercedes-Benz Junior Cup Day Two Report

- Leicester City Under-19s won the fifth-place play-off against Schalke on the final day of the Mercedes-Benz Junior Cup in Germany

- The young Foxes hit three past the South Korea Under-19s before a 1-0 play-off victory over German club Schalke on Saturday

- Trevor Peake's men narrowly missed out on a spot in the semi-finals because of RB Leipzig's win over Rapid Wien earlier in the day

- Shot-stopper Cameron Yates was presented with the Goalkeeper of the Tournament award after a string of fine saves for City in Stuttgart

The young Foxes missed out on a semi-final spot after RB Leipzig’s 3-0 success against Rapid Wien - leaving them third in the intermediate round Group B - but a 1-0 victory over Schalke at the end of play meant they ended their stay in Stuttgart on a high note nonetheless. 

In front of a sell-out crowd at the state-of-the-art Glaspalast Sindelfingen arena and a national television audience, Trevor Peake’s men started the day by putting three past the South Koreans, courtesy of goals from Cal Templeton, Alex Pascanu and Khanya Leshabela. 

Templeton was there again in the play-off to see off Schalke, the side who defeated them in the preliminary round group stage on the opening day, before the players spotted a locally-based young City fan and invited him to have a photograph on the running track (pictured, above). 

Peake’s men, who finished fifth out of eight sides in the competition, return to England on Sunday with a host of new experiences under their belt with many being new to six-a-side, 18-minute matches such as the ones they managed so adeptly in Stuttgart this week. 

Many excelled for Leicester, including five-time goal-scorer Templeton and Goalkeeper of the Tournament Cameron Yates, but it was Hoffenheim who ultimately lifted the prestigious prize with a 2-1 victory over Vfb Stuttgart in the final on Saturday evening. 

Day One results: 

 Group A:

- Schalke 2 (Hemmerich, Karakas) Leicester City 0 

- Leicester City 3 (Dewsbury-Hall, Leshabela, Johnson) Rosenborg 1 (Vinje) 

- Leicester City 1 (Templeton) RB Leipzig 2 (Schimmel x2) 

Intermediate Group B:

- Leicester City 3 (Templeton x2, Dewsbury-Hall) Rapid Wien 4 (Prirsch x2, Sahanek, Kussler) 

Day Two results:

Intermediate Group B:

- Leicester City 3 (Templeton, Pascanu, Leshabela) South Korea 0

Fifth/sixth play-off:

- Leicester City 1 (Templeton) Schalke 0 

Day Two: 

Leicester City got off to the best possible start with a fantastic 3-0 success over the South Korea Under-19s with goals by Templeton, Pascanu and Leshabela giving them a fighting chance of reaching the semi-finals. 

It ultimately proved to be a short-lived dream for City, with their fate out of their own hands, as RB Leipzig put three past holders Rapid Wien meaning it was the German outfit, and not Peake’s men, who progressed to the final-four in Stuttgart. 

The South Koreans started brightly and almost slipped through the net from the off when Seungun Ha forced a good save from Yates with barely a minute on the clock, but Leicester would go on to deliver an impressive defensive rearguard. 

Next, Youngwoo Seol stung Yates’ gloves again before Jae Young Choi went close with a deflected effort which almost evaded the City goalkeeper at his bottom left post, but eventually bobbled just wide. 

But the young Foxes became more of a threat as the match went on and they took the lead when Leshabela took control in the middle before playing in Templeton in space to slot it beyond Changi An in the South Korea net. 

Pascanu made it two with a superb finish after seizing the ball in his own half before Leshabela made sure of the three points with a brilliant dinked finish with 20 seconds remaining in the second period. 

The fifth-sixth play-off pitted City against their first opponents of the preliminary group stage, Schalke, and revenge was on their minds as Templeton scored the only goal of the match to secure a 1-0 victory. 

Florian Krugar almost opened the scoring early on for the Germans with a placed shot to Yates’ left while Ola Solbakken fired just wide seconds later with City withstanding anything they could muster. 

Like they had all tournament, Leicester broke at just the right time and they were ahead when Leshabela’s powerful effort from the left flank rebounded off the backboard and into Templeton’s path in front of goal. 

Schalke came back and were a threat to the very end but, thanks to the authoritative goalkeeping of Yates and determined defending by those in front of him, Peake’s men saw out the result to end their stay in Germany on a high.

For a look back at the action from Day One, .

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