Since our proposed team did not make it to this years Kanga Cup we had the opportunity to spend some time with the young footballers Coach and Parents from the Philippino Capital City. I brieffly introduced myself during the KC opening Ceremony To Malotte the Teams Manager aranging for us to come watch and provide refreshments for the team at the games and also oragnised a farewell dinner on the 14th at the Deakin Football Club before the match between the Central Coast Mariners and the Canberra FC.
The cold weather was a bit much for the Team on Monday morning they kicked of at 9:30 also the Light UTD was the second best team in the comp so the team lost their first match. The pleasing part was that the team never gave up and kept fighting till the end.
The second match they played at 11 am on Tuesday vs the Local Team Woden Valley which they lost in a close contest with the team getting used to the weather and also the team was more aggressive and could see that the boys started to believe in themselves more with a n improved performance despite the loss.
Wednesday the team played in the afternoon at 2:30 pm and the temperature was more bearable for the boys and from the start they were on the offensive with several chances being created only to find themselves 1 nil down at half time. I said to myself such is Football "It can be brutally unfair" but we still love it. I had to go at half time somewhat depressed but that did not last long as an hour later got the good news via a message from one of the parents with the great news that the team overcame the half time deficit and finally won. Fantastic news as you could see the youngsters grow wings and never looked back by beating the SW Queensland team in their final group match. The team made it past the group stages and had to face in the semis the Mighty PoCheolDong PS football team from Korea which finished on top of their group beating and humiliating every team they played so far
The Koreans eventually did win the match but they had to dig deep as the Rifa Boys defended well and hit fast on the contra attack and being able to score against the Koreans which have only conceded only 1 goal to date. The Rifa boys have to be proud of their achievements and hold their heads high as the tournament is tough and also the cold weather had to be of some influence .
On the 14the we had taken the team out to dinner and after we have watched the match between the Central Coast Mariner and the Local team Canberra FC and after the match we presented the team manager Malotte with the 2 teams Autographed Jerseys and Each player received a ball and Engraved Pen as a memento of their visit. To top the night had the opportunity to introduce the Former Socceroo Captain and Borussia Dortmund UEFA Cup finalist Ned Zelic which kindly gave up some of his time and graced us with his company
Thank you Ned you are a true Champion.
As all good things must come to an end the next night we met at the ground and we have farewell the Team as they were flying out of early in the morning. We are excited to have been able to assist the team and hopefully they enjoyed and learned from this adventure with the hope that someday we may se them wear the Azkal jersey with pride. Farewell and Good Luck to you all the 2011 Rifa U13 Kanga Cup boys.
