Eduardo Galeano, one of the most prominent Uruguayan writers ever, once wrote;
“The nobodies: nobody’s children, owners of nothing.
The nobodies: the no-ones, the nobodied, running like rabbits, dying through life, screwed every which way.
Who are not, but could be.
Who don’t speak languages, but dialects.
Who don’t have religions, but superstitions.
Who don’t create art, but handicrafts.
Who don’t have culture, but folklore.
Who are not human beings, but human resources.
Who don’t have faces, but arms.
Who don’t have names, but numbers.
Who don’t appear in the history of the world, but in the crime reports of the local paper.
The nobodies, who are not worth the bullet that kills them”
Football Beyond Borders is far more than only football. It is our way to exist and resist. It is our way to stand by those who have seen oppressed their languages, their religions, their art, their cultures. It is our way of looking at the faces of those who seem to have lost not only their names, and are being killed not only by bullets, but by an entire system that has divided the world; into those who specialize in winning, and those who specialize in losing. Our message does not recognize borders, it goes from a shanty town in Paysandú to the little Farkha village in the West Bank, from the tumultuous Tahrir Square in Cairo to those cleaners of the University of London, from the endless struggle of the Kurds to the Helsinki Cathedral, from those always smiling faces of Accra in Ghana to the conflict-riven south of Lebanon, from a small community in the English countryside to those children playing football at the coast of Lake Victoria in Uganda.
News, comment and analysis on football and social change
Friday, 2 March 2012
Captain’s Log
Background to Football Beyond Borders: Middle East 2011
September is generally a quiet month for SOAS sports teams. Captains, club secretaries, union officials and team members instead gear their energies towards planning for the current year, and getting all the essentials in check; kit, ground, playing squad and committee, to name but a few.
However, for three years now I have been part of the SOAS Football 1st Team’s unprecedented football tours. The title ‘football tour’ gives it a ‘lads on tour’, booze-binging Britain ring, but these tours are anything but, and can be better described as ‘football tours with a difference’. The concept was initially thought up under Jasper Kain’s captaincy, and is called Football Beyond Borders.
In 2009, we travelled to Turkey, Syria and Lebanon. The aim of the tour was centred on transcending perceived differences with inhabitants of a region which is often condemned with simplified (and at times pejorative) descriptions such as the ‘Axis of Evil,’ or alternatively presented as part of an ‘Islamic monoculture.’ 2010 saw Football Beyond Borders keep with the established mantra of promoting cross-cultural dialogue and mutual understanding, but the focus shifted towards development in Ghana, under Toib Olomowewe’s tutelage.
The power football has to enact social change and unite supposedly differing communities, which supposedly exist in opposition to each other, is unparalleled. FBB presents an alternative; not only do we seek to operate in spite of established political institutions, we aim to tackle the artificial boundaries created and perpetuated by them, through using football. Often lauded as a global language, football can be used as a useful platform to engender dialogue, debate, and in making obvious the common humanity shared with supposedly different people.
Come August 29th, Football Beyond Borders: Middle East 2011 planned to travel to Egypt, Palestine and Jordan. We were 20 student-footballers travelling to engage with students, local communities and various other groups. We sought to use our love of football to foster lasting relationships, learn about each other and to challenge common perceptions and narratives.
Football’s level playing field was to provide an alternative to the boardroom of high-level diplomacy, which we feel fails to represent our views and has failed the people of the region. We are seeking to providing an alternative narrative of Westerners, away from David Cameron’s eagerness to secure arms deals with post-revolutionary Egypt, away from Tony Blair’s ludicrous role as the Middle East’s ‘Peace Envoy’, and away from the British government’s incessant support for despotic regimes and their unparalleled support for Israel at the sacrifice of the Palestinian people.
Palestine was undoubtedly our most unprecedented leg of the tour. Here we sought to provide an alternative narrative of Palestine (not one solely based on conflict and high-level diplomacy), to expose the failure of our elected representatives in articulating our despair over the Israeli occupation, and finally to use the power of football to transcend cultural differences and engage with local communities.
Egypt
After a long summer of training (for most of us!), and after raising some mush-needed last-minute funds, we departed for Hurghada, Egypt on 29th August. The decision to fly to the seaside resort was a pragmatic cost-cutting measure, as flights directly to Cairo were much more expensive. In Hurghada we would spend three days training, rising at 6.30am each morning and conducting two training sessions a day. It took great discipline to say no to the buzzing activities and nightlife of Hurghada, which the (mainly) Western tourists around us were enjoying. Anyone who knows of the region will surely stress the ‘bubble’ that is Hurghada in the wider Egyptian context, and we were under no illusions as to our surroundings. We departed to Cairo on 2nd September, and after a nine-hour journey, we entered the aptly named ‘city of a thousand minarets’. It was impossible to miss the pencil-like structures piercing the skyline, and if that wasn’t enough, the smell of food, dust, heat, and engine fumes, coupled with the sound of beeping horns, was sure to confirm our arrival in the city.
While in Cairo we were exposed to a variety of social issues. Remnants of the failed, and greedy politics of the Mubarak and Sadat regimes, the economic liberalisation of policy, and the implementation of a strong police state, amongst others, had left a huge scar on Cairenes society.
As a result of this, and almost immediately apparent to any visitor, are the huge income inequalities which exist in the city. During our stay, we had our training and match base at the American University of Cairo campus, in the suburb of ‘New Cairo’. With sports cars parked outside, a palm tree lined promenade, state of the art sports facilities – including an Olympic sized pool, football and rugby stadium, gym and steam room - we were well and truly mixing with Cairo’s wealthy. Debates started within the team as to whether this was in fact why we came out here, and within the team people began to realise that it this was in fact an educational experience; we were witnessing the supreme gulfs in living standards.
Fighting this was one of the main aims of the Egyptian revolution. An event on our final day, with an NGO that was born as a result of the revolution, the Nebny Foundation, in one of Cairo’s poorest slums showed us the direct antithesis of what we had seen at the AUC.
Manshiyet Nasr is a slum known as ‘rubbish city’, where median income is 50 dollars (just one-third of Cairo’s average wage), and the average gross floor space per person is only 6.2 square meters. Our day with them involved a football match with the local team, who have been unable to play league matches as opposition clubs did not want to go into the derelict Cairo slum. We also played matches and other games with the kids of Manshiyet Nasr, and our arrival was greeted with television crews and the appearance of famous Egyptian actor Khaled El Nabawy, who showed solidarity with the foundation’s plans to raise funds to help the residents of Manshiyet Nasr to rebuild local infrastructure. The juxtaposition of AUC and Manshiyet Nasr was a clear portrayal of the scars left on Egyptian society by previous regimes.
We also partook in workshops with Coptic Orphans, and the increasingly precarious position that Egypt’s Christians were finding themselves in was conveyed to us. In drama workshops children re-enacted religiously inspired abuse they had suffered by people they referred to as ‘Salafis.’ The complex nature of identity in the region, so often ignored in the media, was elucidated by kids younger than 12, who always referred to the tattoo of a cross on their hand (which they had done when they were babies) when asked about their identity. It was necessary to brand themselves, they believed.
Palestine
Naturally, travelling through this region, especially Palestine, complications were bound to occur. The structures we sought to act in spite of controlled the borders, and a strong military influence affected daily life. Unfortunately, we were unable to enter the Gaza strip as one week before our departure to Egypt, Israel resumed its aerial bombardment of Gaza. However it all seemed to have calmed down until the day before we were due to leave, when an Egyptian crackdown on the Rafah border, aimed at rooting out illegal tunnels to Gaza, meant we would not be able to pass. The control of borders was perpetuated further upon our entry to Israel, which was via Eilat en-route to the West Bank. After much warning we created a counter-narrative to give to the border guards - a ‘lads on tour’ to Tel-Aviv for a few nights of partying – which became our new purpose. We got rid of our Facebook and Twitter profiles, the FBB website, tour gear which made obvious who we were, and attempted to enter.
Faced by a heavily fortified and well-manned border crossing, we entered, many nervous, worrying they might not get in. However, I was quietly confident, as I believed in our strength in numbers. Here, my first interaction with the Israeli state was an unsavoury one, as Omar and myself (the two Arab-looking guys in the team) were subject to the Israeli state’s policy of open racial profiling. Allowing the rest to pass the first stage of immigration, we were held and questioned on subjects ranging from our wealth to our origin, despite holding British passports like most of the team. After being allowed through, a further nine of us were held in the terminal while an investigation took place centered mainly on why we went to Syria in 2009. Throughout the investigation, our passports were stacked up at the end of the table, as the officers browed on iPads and iPhones. Regardless, we made it to the West Bank after a 31-hour round trip.
In the West Bank we had an enriching, but mixed experience. I use the word mixed because of the fact that we were simultaneously exposed to the welcoming, hospitable reception we received from the Palestinians we met, and also to the harsh realities of occupation and the settlements. My personal perception of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank was only exacerbated by what I saw and what I heard whilst in the West Bank. We witnessed countless checkpoints, settlements scything through Palestinian towns, settlers lining lampposts on Palestinian roads with Israeli flags, the dumping of rubbish and sewage on Palestinian land, the closing of parts of Palestinian villages while armed Israelis are escorted to religious sites in Palestinian villages, limiting movement in the occupied West Bank (especially limiting travel to and from Occupied East Jerusalem).
Whether it was in Balata Refugee Camp in Nablus, or in the post game ceremony in Farkha, a small Palestinian refugee camp, in Dheisheh refugee camp, in cross-educational workshops with kids, or in various discussions we had with students and activists, we learnt a great deal about Palestine and Palestinian culture, as well as the sensitive nature of the situation and the IDF’s physical and emotional control of the area. On more than one occasion, talks or celebrations were cut short and smiles quickly turned to worried frowns as rumours spread that an IDF patrol was coming through the
area, and euphoria was often quickly turned into urgent distress.
Jordan
After leaving the West Bank, we had a slightly more relaxed schedule in Jordan, where we were hosted by Al-Wihdat Football Club. The club was formed in a Palestinian refugee camp in Amman, and from extremely humble (and often repressive) beginnings has subsequently gone on to become one of the most successful clubs in Jordan’s history – a real example of Palestinian success through collective strength of will.
We conducted several workshops with the Jordanian (Palestinian) Women’s Union and with various politically-active youth groups. In Jordan we witnessed one of the many manifestations of the Israel/Palestine conflict; exile and displacement. We were told by some Palestinian volunteers about the ‘occupation of the mind’ they suffered in Jordan, which is an attempt to suppress the Palestinian influence in Jordan - for example by prohibiting Palestinian flags and scarves.
Further, we witnessed tight military control in Refugee camps, and one anecdote we were told was of the Jordanian military bulldozing a row of houses down in order to create a path big enough for tanks to pass through, in order to suppress future protest (or ‘rebellions’ as they are described). However, something that came as a pleasant surprise was the desire in the young to champion the Palestinian cause. They were all keen on studying the history, culture and geography of their homeland and had begun to play an active part in youth groups. One group of young activists firmly told us that ‘The spirit of Palestine is in your birth milk, we are born to fight our cause.’
The trip gave us a nuanced view of the complexities of the region and especially the conflict. We met and interacted with activists and students who had brought down the Mubarak empire, witnessed some of the realities of life under occupation and saw one of the many manifestations of the conflict within the wider Middle East region. The trip was an extremely humbling experience, and never before have I been exposed to such highs and lows emotionally. Each image has its own story, and each person has theirs. The places we visited were full of stories, both happy and sad. We will learn from our mistakes and take FBB forward as a tool for social change.
September is generally a quiet month for SOAS sports teams. Captains, club secretaries, union officials and team members instead gear their energies towards planning for the current year, and getting all the essentials in check; kit, ground, playing squad and committee, to name but a few.
However, for three years now I have been part of the SOAS Football 1st Team’s unprecedented football tours. The title ‘football tour’ gives it a ‘lads on tour’, booze-binging Britain ring, but these tours are anything but, and can be better described as ‘football tours with a difference’. The concept was initially thought up under Jasper Kain’s captaincy, and is called Football Beyond Borders.
In 2009, we travelled to Turkey, Syria and Lebanon. The aim of the tour was centred on transcending perceived differences with inhabitants of a region which is often condemned with simplified (and at times pejorative) descriptions such as the ‘Axis of Evil,’ or alternatively presented as part of an ‘Islamic monoculture.’ 2010 saw Football Beyond Borders keep with the established mantra of promoting cross-cultural dialogue and mutual understanding, but the focus shifted towards development in Ghana, under Toib Olomowewe’s tutelage.
The power football has to enact social change and unite supposedly differing communities, which supposedly exist in opposition to each other, is unparalleled. FBB presents an alternative; not only do we seek to operate in spite of established political institutions, we aim to tackle the artificial boundaries created and perpetuated by them, through using football. Often lauded as a global language, football can be used as a useful platform to engender dialogue, debate, and in making obvious the common humanity shared with supposedly different people.
Come August 29th, Football Beyond Borders: Middle East 2011 planned to travel to Egypt, Palestine and Jordan. We were 20 student-footballers travelling to engage with students, local communities and various other groups. We sought to use our love of football to foster lasting relationships, learn about each other and to challenge common perceptions and narratives.
Football’s level playing field was to provide an alternative to the boardroom of high-level diplomacy, which we feel fails to represent our views and has failed the people of the region. We are seeking to providing an alternative narrative of Westerners, away from David Cameron’s eagerness to secure arms deals with post-revolutionary Egypt, away from Tony Blair’s ludicrous role as the Middle East’s ‘Peace Envoy’, and away from the British government’s incessant support for despotic regimes and their unparalleled support for Israel at the sacrifice of the Palestinian people.
Palestine was undoubtedly our most unprecedented leg of the tour. Here we sought to provide an alternative narrative of Palestine (not one solely based on conflict and high-level diplomacy), to expose the failure of our elected representatives in articulating our despair over the Israeli occupation, and finally to use the power of football to transcend cultural differences and engage with local communities.
Egypt
After a long summer of training (for most of us!), and after raising some mush-needed last-minute funds, we departed for Hurghada, Egypt on 29th August. The decision to fly to the seaside resort was a pragmatic cost-cutting measure, as flights directly to Cairo were much more expensive. In Hurghada we would spend three days training, rising at 6.30am each morning and conducting two training sessions a day. It took great discipline to say no to the buzzing activities and nightlife of Hurghada, which the (mainly) Western tourists around us were enjoying. Anyone who knows of the region will surely stress the ‘bubble’ that is Hurghada in the wider Egyptian context, and we were under no illusions as to our surroundings. We departed to Cairo on 2nd September, and after a nine-hour journey, we entered the aptly named ‘city of a thousand minarets’. It was impossible to miss the pencil-like structures piercing the skyline, and if that wasn’t enough, the smell of food, dust, heat, and engine fumes, coupled with the sound of beeping horns, was sure to confirm our arrival in the city.
While in Cairo we were exposed to a variety of social issues. Remnants of the failed, and greedy politics of the Mubarak and Sadat regimes, the economic liberalisation of policy, and the implementation of a strong police state, amongst others, had left a huge scar on Cairenes society.
As a result of this, and almost immediately apparent to any visitor, are the huge income inequalities which exist in the city. During our stay, we had our training and match base at the American University of Cairo campus, in the suburb of ‘New Cairo’. With sports cars parked outside, a palm tree lined promenade, state of the art sports facilities – including an Olympic sized pool, football and rugby stadium, gym and steam room - we were well and truly mixing with Cairo’s wealthy. Debates started within the team as to whether this was in fact why we came out here, and within the team people began to realise that it this was in fact an educational experience; we were witnessing the supreme gulfs in living standards.
Fighting this was one of the main aims of the Egyptian revolution. An event on our final day, with an NGO that was born as a result of the revolution, the Nebny Foundation, in one of Cairo’s poorest slums showed us the direct antithesis of what we had seen at the AUC.
Manshiyet Nasr is a slum known as ‘rubbish city’, where median income is 50 dollars (just one-third of Cairo’s average wage), and the average gross floor space per person is only 6.2 square meters. Our day with them involved a football match with the local team, who have been unable to play league matches as opposition clubs did not want to go into the derelict Cairo slum. We also played matches and other games with the kids of Manshiyet Nasr, and our arrival was greeted with television crews and the appearance of famous Egyptian actor Khaled El Nabawy, who showed solidarity with the foundation’s plans to raise funds to help the residents of Manshiyet Nasr to rebuild local infrastructure. The juxtaposition of AUC and Manshiyet Nasr was a clear portrayal of the scars left on Egyptian society by previous regimes.
We also partook in workshops with Coptic Orphans, and the increasingly precarious position that Egypt’s Christians were finding themselves in was conveyed to us. In drama workshops children re-enacted religiously inspired abuse they had suffered by people they referred to as ‘Salafis.’ The complex nature of identity in the region, so often ignored in the media, was elucidated by kids younger than 12, who always referred to the tattoo of a cross on their hand (which they had done when they were babies) when asked about their identity. It was necessary to brand themselves, they believed.
Palestine
Naturally, travelling through this region, especially Palestine, complications were bound to occur. The structures we sought to act in spite of controlled the borders, and a strong military influence affected daily life. Unfortunately, we were unable to enter the Gaza strip as one week before our departure to Egypt, Israel resumed its aerial bombardment of Gaza. However it all seemed to have calmed down until the day before we were due to leave, when an Egyptian crackdown on the Rafah border, aimed at rooting out illegal tunnels to Gaza, meant we would not be able to pass. The control of borders was perpetuated further upon our entry to Israel, which was via Eilat en-route to the West Bank. After much warning we created a counter-narrative to give to the border guards - a ‘lads on tour’ to Tel-Aviv for a few nights of partying – which became our new purpose. We got rid of our Facebook and Twitter profiles, the FBB website, tour gear which made obvious who we were, and attempted to enter.
Faced by a heavily fortified and well-manned border crossing, we entered, many nervous, worrying they might not get in. However, I was quietly confident, as I believed in our strength in numbers. Here, my first interaction with the Israeli state was an unsavoury one, as Omar and myself (the two Arab-looking guys in the team) were subject to the Israeli state’s policy of open racial profiling. Allowing the rest to pass the first stage of immigration, we were held and questioned on subjects ranging from our wealth to our origin, despite holding British passports like most of the team. After being allowed through, a further nine of us were held in the terminal while an investigation took place centered mainly on why we went to Syria in 2009. Throughout the investigation, our passports were stacked up at the end of the table, as the officers browed on iPads and iPhones. Regardless, we made it to the West Bank after a 31-hour round trip.
In the West Bank we had an enriching, but mixed experience. I use the word mixed because of the fact that we were simultaneously exposed to the welcoming, hospitable reception we received from the Palestinians we met, and also to the harsh realities of occupation and the settlements. My personal perception of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank was only exacerbated by what I saw and what I heard whilst in the West Bank. We witnessed countless checkpoints, settlements scything through Palestinian towns, settlers lining lampposts on Palestinian roads with Israeli flags, the dumping of rubbish and sewage on Palestinian land, the closing of parts of Palestinian villages while armed Israelis are escorted to religious sites in Palestinian villages, limiting movement in the occupied West Bank (especially limiting travel to and from Occupied East Jerusalem).
Whether it was in Balata Refugee Camp in Nablus, or in the post game ceremony in Farkha, a small Palestinian refugee camp, in Dheisheh refugee camp, in cross-educational workshops with kids, or in various discussions we had with students and activists, we learnt a great deal about Palestine and Palestinian culture, as well as the sensitive nature of the situation and the IDF’s physical and emotional control of the area. On more than one occasion, talks or celebrations were cut short and smiles quickly turned to worried frowns as rumours spread that an IDF patrol was coming through the
area, and euphoria was often quickly turned into urgent distress.
Jordan
After leaving the West Bank, we had a slightly more relaxed schedule in Jordan, where we were hosted by Al-Wihdat Football Club. The club was formed in a Palestinian refugee camp in Amman, and from extremely humble (and often repressive) beginnings has subsequently gone on to become one of the most successful clubs in Jordan’s history – a real example of Palestinian success through collective strength of will.
We conducted several workshops with the Jordanian (Palestinian) Women’s Union and with various politically-active youth groups. In Jordan we witnessed one of the many manifestations of the Israel/Palestine conflict; exile and displacement. We were told by some Palestinian volunteers about the ‘occupation of the mind’ they suffered in Jordan, which is an attempt to suppress the Palestinian influence in Jordan - for example by prohibiting Palestinian flags and scarves.
Further, we witnessed tight military control in Refugee camps, and one anecdote we were told was of the Jordanian military bulldozing a row of houses down in order to create a path big enough for tanks to pass through, in order to suppress future protest (or ‘rebellions’ as they are described). However, something that came as a pleasant surprise was the desire in the young to champion the Palestinian cause. They were all keen on studying the history, culture and geography of their homeland and had begun to play an active part in youth groups. One group of young activists firmly told us that ‘The spirit of Palestine is in your birth milk, we are born to fight our cause.’
The trip gave us a nuanced view of the complexities of the region and especially the conflict. We met and interacted with activists and students who had brought down the Mubarak empire, witnessed some of the realities of life under occupation and saw one of the many manifestations of the conflict within the wider Middle East region. The trip was an extremely humbling experience, and never before have I been exposed to such highs and lows emotionally. Each image has its own story, and each person has theirs. The places we visited were full of stories, both happy and sad. We will learn from our mistakes and take FBB forward as a tool for social change.
Team Character
A favourite cliché of football pundits is that the game is played 90% with your head. While I do not fully subscribe to this, there is little doubt in my mind that the determination, passion, adaptability, flair, persistence, patience, leadership and selflessness shown by this group of players played a major role in our on- and off-the-pitch successes on tour. From a coaches point of view my job was made so much easier by the fact that the group of players we had out in Egypt, Palestine and Jordan displayed all these attributes in abundance.
While on tour there is a delicate balance between showing passion and disrespecting your hosts. At times I think we got this wrong, and as Coach I take responsibility for this. I should have led by example and made an example of players who took their passion too far. However, once we learned to control our passion and channel it into determination, it was an invaluable asset. When you're playing 4 or 5 games in a week, passion and drive is what gets you through games. In players like Sam and Alex we had characters that would do anything to win and in any situation inspire the team forward with their drive.
Team morale is vital to a successful tour, so dropping people is always nerve-wracking. Thankfully having people like Lucas, Nick and Omar who will take being dropped on the chin and come back and work even harder in training made my life so much easier. A player that was never dropped, mainly due to his own version of selflessness, was Taurean. Part of the reason our team was successful in the Middle East was because we had some fantastic players with great flair and creativity like Juan, Erhan and Alex Skinner, but with players like this you need someone to fill in the gaps left by these players, and Taurean would always do this. He would listen to every instruction and carry it out to the minutest detail, and it is a testament to this that he has played every minute of every Football Beyond Borders tour.
As a coach I like to play around with formations and styles and because of this players sometimes have to play out of position. In the 4-1 win against Al Quds University, both Mesh and Timmy played out of position. However neither complained and both players put in individual performances up there with the very best of the tour. This not only shows tremendous skill, but also great adaptability. Dillon played out of position for most of the tour. He was clearly not happy playing left wing (rather than his favoured position of striker) but in usual Dill fashion showed great persistence and patience, never once complaining, while always looking to improve and do his all for the team.
While a coach can work hard off-the-pitch, every team needs a leader on it to lead by example, pass on instructions, organise and encourage. In Joseph we had the perfect person for this. Joe is a player that the team takes its lead from - if he plays well then the team plays well - and in the big games on tour he performed, and the team followed suit. Not only did Joe lead by his performances, he also had the respect of all the players, which allowed him to organise on the pitch - it really helps having someone with such football intelligence leading on the pitch. However, Joe was not the only leader and at times we had 5 or 6 players who would be excellent candidates to be captain. Jasper in particular is a player who through his work rate, desire and experience is able to lead people in both games and training.
Someone who I think deserves a special mention for his contribution to the team is Tom Pez. His enthusiasm and energy, while often affably mocked by the team, really helped me as a coach. After a 3 hour training session if I ever was in doubt about a drill or instruction Tom Pez would always be their eagerly nodding and then carrying out whatever asked of him to the exact instruction, and this really does give you a lift as a coach.
I will always be indebted to these players for being the best possible team to manage, and I am sure I will never get to coach such an incredible bunch of people again. They allowed me to play around with formations, have long hard training sessions, rotate the team and still they would put in 100% every time they stepped over the white line. Once they were on the pitch I had full trust that they would be able to perform in all situations due to their strong character.
I think all the attributes you need for a successful tour off-the-pitch are taken from those on-the-pitch. From Alex’s passion, to Taurean’s selflessness, to Joe’s leadership and Tom Pez’s energy - without these characteristics the tour both on and off the pitch would not have achieved all that it did.
While on tour there is a delicate balance between showing passion and disrespecting your hosts. At times I think we got this wrong, and as Coach I take responsibility for this. I should have led by example and made an example of players who took their passion too far. However, once we learned to control our passion and channel it into determination, it was an invaluable asset. When you're playing 4 or 5 games in a week, passion and drive is what gets you through games. In players like Sam and Alex we had characters that would do anything to win and in any situation inspire the team forward with their drive.
Team morale is vital to a successful tour, so dropping people is always nerve-wracking. Thankfully having people like Lucas, Nick and Omar who will take being dropped on the chin and come back and work even harder in training made my life so much easier. A player that was never dropped, mainly due to his own version of selflessness, was Taurean. Part of the reason our team was successful in the Middle East was because we had some fantastic players with great flair and creativity like Juan, Erhan and Alex Skinner, but with players like this you need someone to fill in the gaps left by these players, and Taurean would always do this. He would listen to every instruction and carry it out to the minutest detail, and it is a testament to this that he has played every minute of every Football Beyond Borders tour.
As a coach I like to play around with formations and styles and because of this players sometimes have to play out of position. In the 4-1 win against Al Quds University, both Mesh and Timmy played out of position. However neither complained and both players put in individual performances up there with the very best of the tour. This not only shows tremendous skill, but also great adaptability. Dillon played out of position for most of the tour. He was clearly not happy playing left wing (rather than his favoured position of striker) but in usual Dill fashion showed great persistence and patience, never once complaining, while always looking to improve and do his all for the team.
While a coach can work hard off-the-pitch, every team needs a leader on it to lead by example, pass on instructions, organise and encourage. In Joseph we had the perfect person for this. Joe is a player that the team takes its lead from - if he plays well then the team plays well - and in the big games on tour he performed, and the team followed suit. Not only did Joe lead by his performances, he also had the respect of all the players, which allowed him to organise on the pitch - it really helps having someone with such football intelligence leading on the pitch. However, Joe was not the only leader and at times we had 5 or 6 players who would be excellent candidates to be captain. Jasper in particular is a player who through his work rate, desire and experience is able to lead people in both games and training.
Someone who I think deserves a special mention for his contribution to the team is Tom Pez. His enthusiasm and energy, while often affably mocked by the team, really helped me as a coach. After a 3 hour training session if I ever was in doubt about a drill or instruction Tom Pez would always be their eagerly nodding and then carrying out whatever asked of him to the exact instruction, and this really does give you a lift as a coach.
I will always be indebted to these players for being the best possible team to manage, and I am sure I will never get to coach such an incredible bunch of people again. They allowed me to play around with formations, have long hard training sessions, rotate the team and still they would put in 100% every time they stepped over the white line. Once they were on the pitch I had full trust that they would be able to perform in all situations due to their strong character.
I think all the attributes you need for a successful tour off-the-pitch are taken from those on-the-pitch. From Alex’s passion, to Taurean’s selflessness, to Joe’s leadership and Tom Pez’s energy - without these characteristics the tour both on and off the pitch would not have achieved all that it did.
Sunday, 21 August 2011
London 2011; A Huge Success
London 2011 has come to an exciting culmination and everyone involved can agree that it was a great success. The competitive and exciting football, the engaging events with our supporting organisations, the shared meals, the stadium tours, and the newly formed friendships between students all lent to an enriching and fulfilling experience for all. The effort and organization put into London 2011 proved more than worthwhile and will surely be the source of some unforgettable memories in the city of London. We would like to express our appreciation for all of our friends, supporters and our sponsors who helped make London 2011 an unforgettable experience.
Once again, thank you and congratulations to everyone involved - we hope this is the first of many International Football tournaments hosted by Football Beyond Borders!
Once again, thank you and congratulations to everyone involved - we hope this is the first of many International Football tournaments hosted by Football Beyond Borders!
Thursday, 18 August 2011
ULFC Crowned Football Beyond Borders: London 2011 Champions
Football Beyond Borders: London 2011 finished with co-hosts SOAS and the University of London playing out a 0-0 draw after extra time, with ULFC eventually triumphing 5-4 on penalties.
The match itself was a typicallly tense and physical English cup final, with both sides defending strongly and attacking unconvincingly. To be fair to the English representatives, both teams were understrength, and coming in from a very tough week of football, on a very warm July afternoon at Wadham Lodge, in East London.
For their part, ULFC had only eleven men, and winger Reed Cataldo was carrying a knock so severe that for the full 120 minutes he was acting only as applied pressure to SOAS' defence, and as a 'wall' to play passes against. Cataldo worked tirelessly throughout though, and it was the absence of key creative midfielder Chris Michael which really hindered them, as they struggled to play it through midfield, resorting to long-ball tactics and staying compact in defence. It was a style of play which ULFC had used previously against Paysandú, and in periods against the AUC. Although it was criticised by many as being a negative tactic, it showed the strength of the ULFC players, who all season have been playing free-flowing attacking football under head coach Andy Zeller. With Zeller away throughout the tournament, and with key players missing, they instead put a truly English performance on display for the visiting teams in attendance!
SOAS, in contrast, stuck to their attractive style of play and passed the ball around their midfield and defence extensively, dominating possession and keeping the ball well. However, without key forwards Toib Olomowewe and Juan Dorrego, they were somewhat blunt in the final third, and with ULFC's compact defensive shape they struggled to create real openings.
However SOAS it was who cam closest to opening the scoring, as an opening created on the left by Kain and Watfa left Alex Skinner with time to shoot just inside the penalty box, but his firm strike was beaten away by Bailey. The next chance fell to Omar Salha, as the ball fell to him in the box after a cross from Omacar was not cleared properly. He volleyed well into the ground, but the deflected shot was scrambled away by Bailey, low down to his left.
The second-half saw less clear chances created, but with Theo Ohene getting on the ball more for ULFC, the threat of a breakaway goal was always present. However SOAS centre-backs Alex Kaszyicki-Williams, and in particular former ULFC player Erhan Sancak, defended superbly to keep the threat at bay.
The threat of Ohene and Chapman continued into extra time, but it was SOAS who almost snatched the game-winning moment, as in the dying minutes Taurean Antoine-Chagar found space on the left-hand side of the box, and with ULFC defenders Shane Gaughan and Owain Tomblin (who were both superb throughout) fearful of giving away a penalty, Antoine-Chagar was able to chip the ball goalwards, only to be denied what would have been a stunning victory goal by a fingertip save from Bailey, which took it onto the crossbar.
With both 90 minutes and extra time unable to separate the teams, it came down to a penalty shoot-out.
ULFC captain Owain Tomblin stepped up first and fired home confidently, before Jasper Kain's penalty sneaked and bobbled it's way past co-organiser Sam Bailey (much to the annoyance of the ULFC goalkeeper) to make it 1-1. Rob Walls stepped up for ULFC, and confidently sent SOAS keeper Emmanuel Boateng the wrong way to give ULFC a 2-1 lead. Jack Reynolds' penalty was unconvincing, with Bailey again getting a hand on it, but his tactic of going down the middle paid off to make it equal after two penalties each.
A confident penalty from Theo Ohene kept the pressure on for SOAS, who's captain Joseph Watfa then stepped up for the third penalty, but Bailey guessed right for the third time and this time managed to keep it out, to give ULFC the edge. Another good penalty from Shane Gaughan maintained ULFC's advantage, and though Timothy Omacar sent Bailey the wrong way with a well-placed finish, the younger Gaughan brother Chris again sent Boateng the wrong way with an assured penalty, to give ULFC the victory. SOAS won't be too dissapointed though, as the five games they played won them many admirers, and will serve as a great warm-up for the players going out to the Middle East this September.
Although an all-English final was not the expected (or particularly wanted) result of an epic week of football, both ULFC and SOAS deserved their place in the final, with both teams winning crucial final fixtures on Tuesday 26th and Thursday 28th July.
On Tuesday 26th, SOAS overcame Paysandú 3-2 in an exciting end-to-end game, with Timesh Pillay scoring twice to seal the victory. Meanwhile ULFC beat Egyptian visitors AUC 2-0 in an vital and very hotly-contested game, and Adnan Menderes beat Helsinki 4-3 to grab their first points of the tournament.
On Thursday 28th, the early kick-off saw Helsinki and Paysandú play out a great game of football, with the well-tempered 4-4 draw not only showcasing great attacking football, but also truly displaying the spirit of Football Beyond Borders. SOAS then recorded a second 3-2 victory in two days, this time against the AUC, whilst ULFC saw off Adnan Menderes 3-0 in the day's final game.The last two day's results meant that no team left without a result to their name, which was a nice touch to round-off the group stages of the tournament.
The Football Beyond Borders Fair Play Award, awarded to the team who played the game and participated in the project in the best spirit, was given to the University of Helsinki, who made plenty of new friends with their sporting attitude, their disciplined and spirited performances, and their enthusiasm and well-mannered natures throughout their time here.
We would like to thank all of the teams who participated, for making the tournament such a resounding success, and also such an enjoyable event to run, and also all those who came down to support the teams down at The Hive or at Wadham Lodge. We hope to see you all again at future Football Beyond Borders events!
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