IRELAND: INDOOR FOOTBALL WORLD CUP

The boys and girls of 4^th, 5^th and 6^th classes in the Claddagh N.S participated in the highly anticipated 2014 Indoor Football World Cup. Last year was the first year in which this competition was run in the school and France were champions on that occasion.

Due to the huge success of last year’s event it was decided to make the 2014 tournament even more special, bigger and better!!!

How does it work?

• 12 countries were selected – they were:- Ireland, Spain, France, Germany, Holland, Portugal, Brazil, Argentina, USA, Uruguay, Belgium and Italy.
• Each team consisted of 7 players, made up of boys and girls from the various classes.
• The countries were divided into 4 Groups: A, B, C and D.
• Each country played the other teams in their group twice meaning each team got to play a minimum of 4 games.
• The winner of each Group then made it through to the semi finals!

Here is an example of some team photos!

                                                         France  ALLEZ LES BLEUS!!!:                        

Italia/Italia   FORZA AZZURI!!!  

                                               Éireann/Ireland   Éirinn Go Brágh!!!:

España/Spain    VIVA ESPANA!!!

The Games:

The games were played during lunchtimes in the Dominican Hall beside our school – renamed Stadio Del Dominico during the World Cup!! The games were 10 minutes long and played over the course of 8 weeks.

Results and scores were displayed on the walls of each class and players representing each country learned about the culture of each nation – capital cities, history, food, people and famous football stars of course!!

The matches were exciting, tense and packed full of goals! The children learned the skills of football and improved with every game. There was an emphasis on fair play, teamwork and having lots of fun!

Semi Final:

After 6 weeks of group games the following four teams qualified for the semi finals:-

Belgium, Brazil, Spain and Germany.

In the first semi final Brazil defeated German 1-0 and this was followed by Spain beating Belgium 3-2. So the final had been decided – it was going to be Brazil v Spain!

The Final:

There was a huge build-up to the final and massive excitement throughout the school as everyone waited in anticipation for the big game! Children in 2^nd and 4^th classes made mini individual flags for the supporters of both countries.

The game began and Brazil were first to score…but Spain got a great goal just before half time and so they sides were level 1-1 at the interval.

In the second half both teams played some fantastic football. The noise from the supporters in Stadio Del Dominico was immense and Spain too the lead 2-1!!!

What a goal!!!

 But Brazil never gave up and scored another goal! Both sides scored one more each and the score at the end was 3-3!

Extra Time

The rule in the final was that if the game finished level then we would play extra time ‘Golden Goal’ – meaning the first team to score in extra time would be crowned ‘Champions of the World’!!! The excitement was at fever pitch now as both teams came close to winning the game but eventually Spain scored a dramatic winner and their team and supporters celebrated wildly!!

They were presented with the World Cup trophy!

Every single goal was recorded from the beginning of the tournament and the Golden Boot Award was given to the player who scored the most amount of goals. The winner this year was Morgan  from the Brazil Team, he scored 13 goals in 6 games:-

The player of the tournament award went to the individual who tried very hard, played in the right spirit of the games and set an example to others. The winner was Hamsley form the Italian Team!:-

Overall the children had a fantastic time playing in this Indoor Football World Cup. They learned about the various participating countries and those who are still in school next year cannot wait for the 2015 World Cup. Can Spain defend their title?? We’ll wait and see.