Team Philippines gave the United Kingdom some hellish moments before bowing out, 4-2, at the start of the preliminaries in the 1st Deloitte-Street Child World Cup in Durban, South Africa.
But there was something to cheer about in the defeat as the Filipinos managed to earn respect from their taller and heftier rivals.
Dubbed as the “Miracle team” for beating several odds to form the squad, the RP street did not fold up easily as the underdog Pinoy kids proved they have plenty of firepower as well, firing back-to-back goals courtesy of MonMon Elona and Noriel Pideones to push the Filipinos within 2-3.
With less than two minutes left, the Pinoy kids, sponsored by British charity Angus Lawson Memorial Trust, went on full attack, but left their defenses wide open as the English settled the final count with another goal, 4-2.
With the loss, the Philippines now faces a must win situation in all its remaining games in Group A – against Tanzania this Wednesday at 9 p.m., and superpower Brazil on Thursday – to make the Final Four.
Other results saw India blasting South Africa, 4-0, and Nicaragua thumping Ukraine, 8-2.
Team India project manager Bal Singh lauded the RP team.
“It has been a privilege to be part of the Street Child World Championship. The one that stood out in all the games today was the Philippines. I love the attitude, mannerisms and the way they play football; the right way, pure skill and fantastic style which is how the game should be played. The entire team, officials, players and the Philippine nation should be proud of them.”
Danny Moran, former national player and president of the Moran Foundation, the foundation which prepared the team for this competition, said: “That’s a pretty good score. I don’t think you can find a Philippine team that can come up with as good a score against an English team. We’ll just keep praying for our team.”
Manila Bulletin
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment