Irish Soccer Players Take 5th Place in Europe

Fifth place and the Player Of The Tournament trophies were won by the Republic of Ireland Team in the European Homeless Indoor Football Championship. Shaun Anthony reports

The tournament was held in Poland, 5-7 September, organised by Saint Brother Albert’s Aid Society and sponsored by the City of Gdansk.
The tournament progressed well for the Irish including memorable victories over Holland and Hungary.
Two crunch games with Russia and Ukraine in which Ireland lost 2-1 prevented them reaching the semi-finals and Russia went on to win the tournament.
In the play-off for fifth place, Ireland battled to a 3-3 draw with Poland, before winning 4-1 on penalties in a match that everyone agreed was one of the most competitive and exciting of the competition.
The squad of 11 players who competed in Gdansk came through a rigorous selection process from the Irelands Issues Street Leagues and eight of them will represent Ireland in the Homeless World Cup in Melbourne, 1-7 December.
‘It was a great learning experience for the lads who worked really hard to get into the squad’, said Dan Carey, ‘we were in the toughest group and narrowly kept out of the semis by Russia, who went on to win the Championship. We went to Gdansk to get a measure of what we have to do for the World Cup in Melbourne in December. We were delighted that the Player of the Tournament trophy went to Ireland’s Jimmy Bell, his work rate, intelligent play and courage embodied the core spirit of the team’.
Sean Kavanagh, founder of Ireland’s Issues Street Leagues paid tribute to all involved with the Irish team, ‘they can be very proud of what they achieved here, this was an extremely tough competition and to have one of our players win the player of the tournament augurs well for the World Cup. In Australia.
I would like to stress that points, scores and football emotions are not the most important objectives. Through our participation we want to achieve much wider goals such as combating the negative stereotypes common in society but most importantly influencing and motivating our players to kick start changes in their own lives. Representing your country is something that cannot be forgotten and can influence the way a person views themselves. Sometimes the changes inside a person during those minutes on the pitch are greater than those seen after weeks of therapy. That is why it is worth working this way; it is worth playing football and worth supporting this project.
As we go to print Street League has Kicked off new Leagues in Galway and Athlone, see photo opposite, more about that next edition.
 
• Reference websites: www.homelessworldcup.org  www.fai.ie