The G-D-M-irates Cup

This weekend was potentially one of the most important in the history of GDM and it's players, members and fans. We were fortunate enough to be visited by representatives of 'streetfootballworld' and FIFA, in relation to their Football for Hope campaign. The aim of the project, spawn from the World Cup in South Africa 2010, is to achieve positive social change through football by building 20 Football for Hope Centres for public health, education and football across Africa. I won't go into too much detail about the centre, if we are lucky enough to be chosen, I will write a piece on what it can and hopefully will do for everyone here...until then let's just keep our fingers crossed!

So instead of the usual detailed reports on the tournaments that we run here in Manica, this post will focus more on the way in which the players, staff and everyone else involved here, at what is so much more than just a football club, pulled together for such a momentous occasion.

Earlier in the week Adam and I, along with the head of youth football, 26 year old Felipe Castigo (Pingi as he is better known), sat down with the first team squad to devise their roles for the weekend, and split the team in to three groups. One led by Adam and I, and assisted by Mussa, to set up the pitches and oversee the tournament as a whole, one group of referees, and one group organising the food for each kid who took part. Each group was assigned a captain who would delegate the responsibilities accordingly.

The group of referees was led my Mabass, the first team striker and vice-captain, and contained Felex, Simaozinho, Ribeiro (Jet Li) and recent product of the youth team Morane. Kitted out in various Arsenal kits, the refs were instrumental in keeping the tournament running smoothly and making sure the games were played in good spirits.

The group which probably had the toughest task was the group in charge of the food, as it meant they could not stay at the ground and watch the action unfold. Led by first team GK and resident chef when Mama is away- Gabriel, the group of Xadreque, Mariano, Paiva, Manuel, Esquerdinha and Maninho provided each player who took part with bread, bananas, biscuits, and drinks, something that to us in the UK would seem trivial but here is a very big deal.

Other notable mentions must go to the coaches, as not only throughout the weekend's games, but during the weeks leading up to our tournaments the work and commitment they put it is great to see.

• GDM's coaches, Lloyd 'The Complainer', always asking for his next fixture, checking the ages of his opponents players, despite having an unconventional 6ft tall U'11 goalkeeper, and Ruben leading the Ladies team in his first tournament in charge.
• Academicas' Chibanga. Looking like he would qualify to play for the U'11s, Chibanga's efforts leading up to the tournaments are arguably setting the standard for the other coaches.
• Giantkillers' quiet but confident pairing of Abu and Alex, their success in the tournaments so far put them as the team to beat going into the big weekend of football.
• Murroco's eccentric pairing of Paulinho and Teshera, who so far have been unlucky not to have done better.
• Feroviario's Geraldo and Chico Chinhimo, another recent product of the youth team, who were making their debut atthe big event.
• Chico's Costa Do Sol, who train on a pitch far less luxurious than the hotel after which they are named, one of our favourite teams to coach, also entering their first tournament.
• Finally Vivaldo whose team were aptly named...Vivaldo, a late admission in Sundays U'14s tournament.
• 2 teams were also entered into Sundays tournament from the local orphanage.

Special mentions must also go out to the club's directors for all the effort they put in, from organising money for the food, Short Chikwandingwa organising transport for the various teams to get to the ground, and Junior Director and boy genius Zambo 'El Magnifique' Felipe Zambo for taking some great actions shots of the day (the picture below is not Zambo, it is Panache, a regular at every first team training session and a member of GDM's huge squad).

Now...it wouldn't be fair for all this effort to go in, and for you not to find out about the football, so...a brief recap of the events...

In the ladies tournament, after a few 0-0 draws left us thinking we would never see a goal, GDM's Edna and Sonia stepped up to the plate, both scoring doubles in consecutive victories. Being the only team not to lose to GDM, Giantkillers took them on in the final, but Melhor Jogador Del Campeonado (MJDC), Edna, again drove her team to a comfortable victory.

The U'11s tournament was won by Academicas, and a well deserved first victory for Chibanga, whose team were uncompromising in winning every game. MJDC Paulo was the leading goalscorer, although we were treated to an array of screamers, in particular from Giantkillers' Joshua whose stunning volley secure them 3rd place in the 3rd vs 4th playoff against Feroviario.

Giantkillers claimed their 3rd title in the U'14s with a win on penalties over surprise package Feroviario, who had comfortably brushed aside some of the favourites in the group stages, Miguel picking up the MJDC. Vivaldo claimed a last gasp victory over Academicas to take 3rd place.

In the U'17s, Chibanga took his tally to two for the weekend and in doing so, won the right to coach the club's representative U'14s team who will play in the national league. They scored a last minute goal in the final to defeat GDM, with Giantkillers beating Murroco to 3rd place.

MJDC was won by, you guessed it...or did you...Nello Jeque, at just 10 years old, not only was he the youngest player in the tournament, but he had also taken part in all 3 age groups over the weekend. I hope you aren't getting sick of hearing his name as it could be one you are hearing a lot about in the future!

I hope this goes some way to showing how big a deal this occasion was for everyone, and although at first it seemed like a priority to impress our visitors, the most important thing here is the people who will be here for years to come, whether we get the centre or not, and luckily I think they enjoyed it as much as we did!

ID Please?

Saturday 5th February. U'14s tournament. Same four teams, same four sets of coaches. Same rules...almost!

This week instead of the conventional 3 pts for a win, 1 for a draw and none for a loss, we decided to go all Emirates Cup, and threw in a new rule, that any goal scored would also score one point for its team. The reason behind this thinking was that we wanted to see more of the attacking football and great skill shown by some of the players in last weeks tournament, and consequently more goals. The referees also changed this week and it was Adam and I that took the whistles!

Although this week was U'14s, any players from the U'11s deemed good enough for the older age group were more than welcome to play. Therefore there were a lot of familiar faces amongst the newer, older players. This led to some argy bargy between the coaches, Pingi in particular strongly demanding that one of Giantkillers substitutes was not allowed to come on as he was too old and would have his tournament next week. This display of discontent from Pingi seems extremely hypocritical given the recent discoveries that his GK and probably star performer from the U'11s tournament is in fact 13!!! I think we will have to introduce registration cards and some form of ID next week! (and perhaps a touchline ban for Pingi).

So to the football. The first round of fixtures saw last weeks two finalists play out a 1-1 draw due to an equalising penalty from GDM's Sameto, whilst Academica got the day off to a flyer with a 1-0 win over Murroco.

In the second fixtures, Giankillers got back to winning ways with a 2-1 win over the impressive Academicas. This game had it all. After Academicas had gone ahead via a 'Paul Gascoigne vs Scotland' esque finish, Giantkillers centre back popped up with a stunning drive from inside his own half to steal the points.

Meanwhile, the new goalscoring rules had an adverse effect as GDM and Murroco had to settle for a 0-0 draw.

In the final round Giantkillers cruised to a 2-0 win over Murroco to seal their place in the final for the second week running, whilst it seemed that Adam's refereeing was having an affect on the teams on pitch 2, with a second consecutive goalless draw!

In the 3rd place playoff, surprise strugglers GDM took the lead after fantastic work from 10 year old Nello Jeque down the left wing. Nello is definitely one we will be keeping our eye on as his quick feet, skill and intelligence shine through every session we have with him and in both tournaments so far. Murroco finally scored their first goal of the tournament to make it 1-1 before GDM restored their lead. Another equaliser looked like it would take the game to penalties but for a last minute own goal from GDM's Ananias to give Murroco 3rd place.

The final was more of a game for the defenders, and looked like it would again go to penalties, however Academicas were pipped at the post by a late winner for Giantkillers to retain their title.

Alex and Abu were clearly thrilled with their teams second win in two weeks, and this week they were joined on the sidelines by Hardlife Sande, the first team captain who is currently on a coaching course in Zimbabwe and was thrilled to see the opportunities we were bringing for the kids!

This weeks 'Melhor Jogador de Campeonato' was Academicas centra back Vano, who's performances throughout the day really warranted him being on the winning team, conceding only 3 goals.

Once again, the celebrations almost outshone the football itself! Until next week...

Giantkillers!

Each Saturday here in Mozambique we are hosting Arsenal 8-a-side tournaments for the varying age groups of the GDM junior teams. Last week, 29th Jan, was the U'11 tournament. The tournaments not only provide a platform for the kids to show their skills, but also allow the coaches, senior first team players at GDM to gain bragging rights.

Introducing the teams:

Pingi's GDM
Paulino's Murroco Chibanga's Academicas

Alex & Abu's Giantkillers
The format is simple. 4 teams, 1 group, everyone plays eachother. The bottom two teams go into a 3rd vs 4th playoff, and the top two would contest a final.

Giantkillers set the early pace with a 1-0 win over Murroco, whilst GDM, the favourites were held to a goalless draw by Academica.

In the second round of fixtures, Giantkillers quietly got on with business with another 1-0 win, this time over Academica, whilst GDM came through 1-0 winners against Murroco, star man Nello Jeque pulling all the strings.

In the final round of group fixtures, GDM really stamped their authority on the competition with a 3-0 thrashing of Giantkillers. With Murroco and Academicas playing out a 0-0 draw that didn't reflect the chances in the match itself, we would see a repeat of the 3rd round of fixtures for the 3rd place playoff and the final.

The tournament of course would not have been the success that it was if it wasn't for the many helpers we had, and the willingness of anyone and everyone to help out was typical of what we have seen so far in Mozambique.

From the coaches and referees, kitted out in the various Arsenal shirts that I had brought over with me, to the ball boys who were competing with eachother for who could throw the next ball on first, and of course the hundreds crowding around the pitch, in the trees and usually anywhere they could find some shade to watch the action.

The 3rd vs 4th playoff was a cracker of a game. Having taken a 2-1 lead going into half time, Academicas were undone by two absolute screamers from eventual 'Melhor Jogador de Campeonato' or player of the tournament, Nando, of Paulino's Murroco, who won 3-2.

The final though was a much tighter affair... GDM were the clear bookies favourites after beating their fellow finalists 3-0 in the final group game, but after a battling 0-0 draw, with superb performances from both goalkeepers, Giantkillers lived up to their name winning 5-3 on penalties.

The winning team were presented with Arsenal player cards and Nando with his Player of the Tournament medal, and the celebrations erupted...not only from the winning team! Players from each team came to the centre of the crowd to show off their dancing skills as the ceremonies lasted a good half an hour after the matches finished...ceremonies that could easily have lasted the rest of the day!!!

New Balls Please

I will keep this post short and sweet as I think the pictures show just how much this surprise delivery meant to the club!

As I sat watching highlights of Arsenal on the godsend that is Supersport 3, I noticed the clubs directors opening a large package outside. I joined them to find that the package was the 30 brand new footballs that Arsenal had bought for the club. They didn't realise that we were expecting them as we wanted to keep it as a surprise for them, and we could not have predicted just how excited they would be! Short described the footballs as golddust. I think that is enough talking!

Finally, we presented each of the junior teams coaches with a number of footballs to help improve their sessions.