As it had already been reported, the Pyunik 2009 team participated in the Elite Neon Cup international tournament in the Greek capital Athens, where it could have won the silver cup, but the luck was on the opponent’s side in the penalty shootout.
Our team started the group stage with a match against Shooters Academy, where thanks to Andranik Yervandyan’s brace, we got a 2:0 win over the opponent.

The next two matches of the group stage were played on the same day, with a difference of 2 hours. Despite the tense struggle and good opportunities to score, the match with the Athens College team was a goalless draw. Then Andranik Yervandyan's goal brought us a draw in the match with Lebanon’s Athletico SC. Despite the challenging schedule, our boys overcame the group stage without losses.

"We did a good job both as a team and individually. As mature boys they showed me what I really didn't expect, registering good results, despite facing well-organized and strong teams in the competition. We did what we had planned and even more. In the end, something was missing, but we showed character, we played the football we believe in," shared the head coach.

Thanks to the positive results recorded in the group stage, our team continued its struggle for top positions and the next team it faced was Payanias.

Thanks to Davit Asaturyan's difficult and at the same time important goal with a heel, the main time of the match ended 1:1. In the penalty shootout, Aram Gyulbudaghyan's boys acted more cool-bloodedly, defeating 5:3 their opponent.

Our next rival was Botev Plovdiv from Bulgaria. Here our boys determined the winner in the main time of the match, where Andranik Yervandyan and Artyom Hakobyan scored one goal each.

In the framework of the next match of the Elite Neon Cup, our team recorded its 3rd consecutive victory, this time defeating the Romanian Bihor Oradea. The winning goals of that match were scored by Erik Gevorgyan and Artyom Hakobyan.
In the decisive game, we were only half a step away from leaving Athens with the silver cup, but we lost to the Greek Panionios in a penalty shootout, 4:5.
Thus, we are returning to Yerevan with 4️ wins, 2️ draws and 1 defeat and in a penalty shootout.

We fought hard, played with heart and are proud of every moment, every goal, every ball we scored.

"We are grateful to the club's management for developing the academy by participating in such well-organized tournaments. I am sure the boys will return more experienced from here," the coach concluded.