Imagine flying overseas for 16 hours, landing in a foreign country, immediately going to a stadium to compete in an international tournament, for which you are late, and then
WINNING it anyway.
That is exactly what happened to a local group of under-12 soccer players, who are now the proud title holders of the prestigious Manchester Cup.
Only six of the original 15 boys chosen from the Queens Park Football Club in Woodstock could make it to the tournament as the club could not raise enough money.
The six boys returned home victorious on Monday morning to Cape Town International Airport, after kicking butt and scoring goals in the UK last week.
Coach Adam Alexander said 15 of the club’s under-12 players were chosen by the South African Schools Football Association (Sasfa) to take part in the tournament, but they had less than five months to raise the money, which came to roughly
R50 000 per person.
TROPHY: Kids hold their cup in disbelief after winning
He says not only did they have financial challenges, but there were also problems with their visas, and when they arrived in Manchester, they went straight from the airport to play “without showering or even eating or drinking anything”.
Players Neyaaz Moosa, 11, Hope Mazambhe, 11, Mikaeel Abbas, 12, Yusuf Oliver, 10, Zaid Booley, 11, and Yaghyah Abdallah, 13, took part in the tournament along with more than 4000 other children from across the globe in three age categories.
“Our children come from drug homes, poor homes and just every difficulty you can imagine,” says coach Alexander.
“We had almost no time to raise the money, but we could raise enough for five of the boys. It was a struggle every step of the way. Our visas were denied a day before we were supposed to leave on Thursday, 18 April, because of a paperwork technicality.
“We only left the Saturday, the day before the tournament started. One of the boys, Hope, was turned around at the airport as his documentation still wasn’t right. But we sorted it out and he came out on a later flight.
“When we arrived in Manchester 16 hours later, we went straight to the stadium to play. I am very proud of the boys. Next year the entire team goes,” he vowed.
Alexander says a Cape Town expat, Gouwa Diedericks, who now lives in Manchester, along with many other South Africans, helped feed the boys and the parents who accompanied them.
On Monday, their family and friends chanted “Queens Park, Queeeeens Park” as they emerged from international arrivals.
An overwhelmed Mikaeel said he was tired from the flight, adding: “We went, we went to win and we came back winners.