Monday 25 July 2011

London 2011: Results so far



Football Beyond Borders: London 2011 kicked-off this weekend with six great games down at The Hive Football Centre in Edgware.

After the late withdrawal of Damascus University and the University of Manchester, the tournament itself was slimmed down to a six-way affair, with four group games to be played each. The top two teams will meet in the final on Saturday 30th July at Wadham Lodge Sports Ground.

On Saturday 23rd, co-hosts University of London FC fell to a shock 2-0 defeat at the hands of Paysandú Universitario from Uruguay. The defeat was ULFC's first loss since November 2010, and came at the hands (feet) of their striker Juan Dorrego, who opened the scoring early on with a penalty before sealing the result in the dying minutes,  finishing off a counter-attack as ULFC pressed for a winner.

Juan is in a unique position, as he is eligible to play for 3 of the 6 competing teams! He is currently reading an MA at SOAS, and has been a star player for both SOAS and ULFC for the past season. Born in Paysandú,  he moved to London after completing his degree at the Universidad de la República and playing football for Paysandú. In Uruguay - where República is the only state university - student football is split into teams made up of students from various regions, who play in teams made up of players from their home town. Paysandú were formed as a club in 2004, and since then have gone from strength to strength, and have here impressed everyone with their direct, attacking style of play. In this game ULFC could reasonably count themselves unlucky, having hit the bar twice and had two penalty appeals turned down, whilst Paysandú scored their only two clear chances. However, lacking the guidance of coach Andy Zeller, it was an undisciplined performance from the Purples.

On the adjacent pitch, pre-tournament favourites AUC (Egypt) sneaked past Adnan Menderes Üniversitesi from Turkey 2-1 in a game which could have gone either way. Incredibly, Adnan Menderes missed two penalties in the first 15 minutes, before the AUC snuck ahead and then wasted chance after chance in front of goal.

In the final game of the day, SOAS comfortably overcame the University of Helsinki 3-1, with Helsinki's late penalty (which was saved, before the rebound was scored) making it four penalties in the first three games, only one of which was converted!

Yesterday the teams returned to The Hive for the second round of group games, in what proved to be quite an extraordinary day results-wise.

At 1pm, both London-based SOAS and ULFC recorded 8-0 victories, over Adnan Menderes and Helsinki respectively. The scorelines portray an image of two completely one-sided games, but this wasn't really the case - football, as they say, is a funny old game.

At 3pm came the match-up of the day, as Paysandú faced the AUC. Having each won their opening games, both teams were keen to sneak ahead of the other in this vital clash.

The game itself was very even, with both teams creating chances and looking dangerous in the counter-attack. After around 20 minutes played AUC took the lead, and managed to hold on until half-time, partly thanks to a couple of great saves from their goalkeeper, who plays in the Egyptian premier Division back at home.

Paysandú fought back, and midway through the first half almost pulled level, striking the bar from a one-on-one. However it was AUC who wrapped up a 2-0 victory, scoring directly from a corner to break Uruguayan hearts. Only temporarily though, as the Paysandú boys celebrated Uruguay's Copa America victory over Paraguay into the early hours of this morning!

Tuesday the 26th will see Helsinki and Adnan Menderes both look to open their accounts at 5pm, and at 7pm SOAS and ULFC both have important games against Paysandú and the AUC respectively.

Thursday 28th will see the final round of games as Helsinki and Paysandú match up at 5pm, with SOAS playing the AUC and Adnan Menderes facing ULFC at 7pm.

If you can, come down and support the teams! The Hive is easy to reach, being a short walk from Canons Park, Queensbury and Burnt Oak stations. Directions can be found here

Friday 22 July 2011

BBC presenter Zeinab Badawi endorses London 2011

We're proud to announce that Zeinab Badawi, who currently presents World News Today on BBC Four and BBC World News, has given Football Beyond Borders: London 2011 her official endorsement.

[caption id="attachment_1378" align="aligncenter" width="217" caption="Zeinab Badawi and Football Beyond Borders' Jasper Kain display the official event t-shirt."][/caption]

The Sudanese-British presenter was delighted to endorse a project that she has called 'a great student initiative'. Badawi graduated with post-graduate degree on the Middle East from the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies.

The endorsement was timely, as the action kicks off tomorrow at 1pm with the University of London FC defending their home turf against the visiting Paysandu University team from Uruguay and SOAS University squaring off against the University of Helsinki, who have travelled from Finland. At 3pm, the well-organized AUC squad from Egypt go head to head with Adnan Mederes from Turkey. The games will take place at The Hive Football Center in Edgware - please come down and support the teams!

Tuesday 19 July 2011

David Goldblatt Confirmed as Speaker for Wednesday 27th July

CARA and Para Siempre FC are delighted to confirm that David Goldblatt, a highly experienced Sports writer, broadcaster, journalist and author, will be giving a short introduction to our Workshop.

David has published two books, The Ball is Round: A Global History of Football, which provides a definitive historical account of beautiful game, and the World Football Yearbook, a yearly annual that has been widely published.
As a journalist, he has written for most of the quality broadsheet newspapers including the Guardian, the Observer, the Financial Times, and The Independent on Sunday, as well as for magazines such as the New Statesman and the New Left Review. He is a regular reviewer of sports books for The Independent and The Times Literary Supplement and is currently the sports’ columnist for Prospect magazine.
As a freelance reporter he has worked for BBC Radio 4 and the BBC World Service, including producing documentaries on football in Jerusalem and the politics of football in Kenya. He has also appeared on other BBC radio programmes including The World Today, The World Tonight, The Sunday Morning Show, and Africa – Have Your Say.
In addition to his extensive writing and broadcasting career, he has also taught the sociology of sport at the University of Bristol and has run literacy programmes at both Bristol City and Bristol Rovers football clubs, as well as teaching sport, film, and media at the Watershed arts cinema, also in Bristol.

We are extremely privileged to have him speak at our event, and are all looking forward to hearing his views.

Thursday 14 July 2011

England National Disability Team Coach Added to Lineup of Speakers at London 2011

[caption id="attachment_1360" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Lyndon Lynch with National CP Squad"][/caption]

Football Beyond Borders: London 2011 is proud to announce that Lyndon Lynch, the current England National Cerebral Palsy (CP) Head Coach, has been added as a keynote speaker in the schedule of events.

Lynch, who is also a PE teacher, has been involved with the National Disabilities Team since 2008 and has taken the CP squad around the world, competing in tournaments in Japan, Australia, and most recently, Holland. In 2009, the CP squad won the Arafura games, defeating the hosts Australia 2-0 to claim gold in their first competitive tournament win.

Over the next year, Lynch will be drawing players from his England squad to add to Team GB for the 2012 London Paralympic Games.

On the evening of Monday the 25th of July, Lynch will join Let's Kick Racism Out of Football to speak in a seminar on discrimination in football.




Source: www.thefa.com

Tuesday 12 July 2011

New Website for Partner University of London FC

[caption id="attachment_1345" align="aligncenter" width="226" caption="University of London FC"][/caption]
The University of London Football Club has just increased their organization of their club with an upgraded website - www.ulfc.co.uk

The website will serve as the foundation and home-base for the club moving forward, providing players with increased exposure, match records, club information, and giving fans a reference for the Purples.

The club Chairman, Colin Hancock, has provided a page offering an insight into his background history and experience with the prestigious University of London FC.

Like the SOAS Football Beyond Borders squad, the University of London FC are gearing up over the next two weeks to prepare for the London 2011 International tournament. The tournament is surely to spur inter-competition between the students of the University of London. Follow this blog for updates on the tournament, highlights and stats, and also check the ULFC website for updates on their performance in the London 2011 tournament!