Team Africa wins ASB World Cup
Team Africa won ASB World Cup 3-2. | PC: Autumn Mott
There was much rejoicing on 49ers Field after Team Africa won the ASB World Cup Sept. 17, defeating Latino Fuego 3-2.
The ASB World Cup event began in the best way possible: free food. Tables spread with delicious options from around the globe, including Ethiopia, India and China. Although the lines were long, the food was worth the wait.
For V2, Angel Pereira, Latino Fuego’s team captain, blessed the crowd with the story of how he developed a personal relationship with Christ.
While “Waving Flag” blared over the speakers, the four teams rushed the playing field, flags flying high. After arranging into a line, the teams stood respectfully as a variety of national anthems were sung.
There was a quick shoot-out by some of the Preview Day students and then the championship was underway. There were nine players per team and the matches consisted of two 15 minute periods with a short break in-between.
The first game was Team Africa (blue shirts) versus Team North America (green shirts). Team Africa started strong and skillfully scored a couple minutes into the match. In the second half, although Team North America fought with a passion, Team Africa managed to score two more goals to win the game 3-1.
After teams exchanged respects, the field was cleared and Team Euro-Asia (white shirts) and Latino Fuego (red shirts) took the stage. Despite a solid fight put up by Team Euro-Asia, Latino Fuego managed to score once in both periods, ending with a score of 2-0.
For the championship match, Latino Fuego and Team Africa fought neck and neck. The first score of the game was by Latino Fuego, followed closely by a goal from Team Africa. The crowd was at the edge of their seats, cheering passionately from the sidelines. Team Africa scored a second goal, and then Latino Fuego gained a point immediately following a failed penalty kick.
Triumphant noise filled the field after the championship winning goal from Team Africa. Vuvuzelas blared while eager players received the ASB Word Cup trophy.
In the midst of the celebration, I was able to snag a solid summary of the team's feelings:
“It was a good day, we dug deep. Everybody pitched in … Now these guys can graduate—we won it finally! The drought is over!”
Autumn Mott is a sophomore studying communication