Asia's # 1 football club!Sponsored by: TUV Plastics & The Tavern
| The Manila Nomads International 6-a-side Football Tournament... |
| Manila Nomads International 6-a-side Football Tournament November 17-18 2001 | |
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Animals squad: GK : Sam Ellis Defence : David Camhi,Chris Grimaud, Warwick Keogh Midfield : Norbert Dupre, Chidi Egbochue, Will Beebe, Andreas Bohner, Nick Kintzley Attack : Martijn de Bot, Emmanuel Camhi, Alejandro Lozano Support : Paquito Garcia, Thomas Hu First a word of thanks to our generous sponsors who once again kitted us out - The Tavern, TUV, Fortis Watches and Corona - Thank you all. With 8 members of last years victorious squad returning, we felt that although it would be hard we had a great chance to repeat. But with a 32 team tournament there are always surprises. Most of the team meet at the airport in good spirits, and after a hair-raising China Airlines flight full of the defeated Philippines baseball team and returning overseas workers, who took up all the overhead space with video recorders and CD players. We landed in Manila. Friday night was a lively night. Hutu Hutu restaurant provided the refreshments and the usual frolicking continued but with most of the team tucked up early - we were ready to do battle once again. Saturday 17 November Group Phase We were pitched in with Seoul Int'l Soccer Club, Scandinavian Vikings and Athletico de Wanchai and on past form were confident of topping our group. 1st Match : Taipei Animals 8 - Scandinavian Vikings 0 Kick-off : 10.00am Scorers : Chidi 2, Martijn 2, Alejandro 2, Emmanuel, Chris. With the Vikings arriving late and in a daze, we simply steamrolled them with some great passing and finishing. After Chidis early goal we settled down and could have gone into double figures. Still no complaints with a start like this, but we knew it would get harder. 2nd Match : Taipei Animals 3 - Athletico de Wanchai 1 Kick-off : 12.30pm Scorers : Chidi 2, Emmanuel Facing a better team, we were less consistent and at times struggled to put this still quite poor team away. With again Chidi opening the score it was Emmanuel who gave us a comfortable 2-0 lead. But by giving a break away goal which let de Wanchai back in the game. In the second half Chidi finished off the game after being set up by Martijn. Although our defence looked strong most of the time, some marking lapses were worrying. Still another good result and we were qualified for the knockout phase. 3rd Match : Taipei Animals 1 - Seoul Int'l Soccer Club 0 Kick-Off : 4:30pm Scorer : Martijn We wrapped up the group with our hardest game of the day. Seoul was extremely physical and some challenges were bordering on GBH. Martijn connected with Willbe on scored and that we just about deserved. However, this was a good wake up call with tougher teams to come in the knock out phase. The other team from Taipei the Dragons, full of star-studded individual talent, including Vic, Mora, Taiwan Olympians, Japanese brothers and Mikey also qualified at the top of their group. After a slow start they finished with a convincing 5-0 win over the Toronto Castaways, albeit against 4 players as the Canuks had 2 sent off. Sunday November 18 Knockout Phase After another early-ish night, the Animals we looking strong going into the last 16. The draw was kind with Manor Utd (Hong Kong) and KFC Tokyo in the other half. Still as Captain Willbe said they are all tough at this stage. Indeed the ball is round and it's a game of two halves noted Chris. 2nd round match :Taipei Animal 1 - Rangoon Radicals 0 Kick-off : 10.30am Scorer : Emmanuel This was a real test. The Radicals employed a now familiar tactic - Kick the Animals - which we should take as a compliment to our footballing skills. We were starting to look like the team to beat and other teams knew it. With a stream of yellow cards against the Radicals, we had 90% of possession but could not finish. Almost everybody in the team had a shoot blocked, saved or just wide of the target. Deep into the second half with the risk of penalties a real possibility, Emmanuel popped up to drive a low shot past the keeper and into the net. Great finish and well deserved as Emmanuel had shown skill and strength against some rash tackling. We all celebrated this one as an example that if we keep playing football without panicking - then the space will come. Very cool from the Animals. In fact, the Taipei Dragons could have learned something from this match. When they faced a much weaker HK Swiss team - despite having all the ball - they could not score and went out on penalties. A tough result as we all expected much more from a team of talented individuals. Still, they were awarded "Best Dressed Team of the Tournament" !! Quarter Finals : Taipei Animals 3 - Middlesborough 0 Kick-off : 1.30pm Scorers : David, Chidi, Norbert On paper this was a very tough match. Facing an experienced and skilful Middlesborough team from Hong Kong who were previous champions would not be easy. However, this was a game that saw us lift our game a level. Great performances from David, which resulted in an end to end solo goal got things going. Chidi again banged in another goal in search of another Top Scorer title. Nobert the Maestro lived up to his name with a calm and skilful display to finish up the game. Against a smaller Middlesborough squad, the defence was sound and we cruised in to the semi-finals. Semi Finals : Taipei Animals 3 - France Tokyo 0 Kick-off : 3.00pm Scorers : Chris, Chidi, Warwick Many of us had seen France Tokyo playing and they looked very tough opponents. With two very fast strikers we knew this would be a real test of our desire and discipline. The first half was close with France Tokyo having a couple of real scoring chances. Sam pulled off some great saves and Chris was starting to look like a solid wall. However, with our large squad being put to good use - we kept up the pressure. In the face of some outrageous tackles coming from France Tokyo - with one player even rugby tackling Nobert as he went through. David added some spectacular dives as well and it was one of these resulting free kicks that opened the scoring. Nobert lined up the kick, examing how to swerve it inside the wall. This drew a third defender into the wall, so Nobert laid back the pass to Chris, who thumped in a left footed shot that left the keeper no chance. 1-0 good guys. The football that came in the last five minutes was sheer beauty. We stepped up the pace and blew France Tokyo away. Andreas played a good ball through to Martijn, who with a lovely first time flick found Chidi who one-on-one with the keeper made no mistake. The third goal showed how defence can be turned into a goal in four passes. Chris made a firm tackle and as the ball rebounded into space Warwick picked up the ball and pushed a long pass up to Martijn, who held the ball up well and then released a smooth pass into the path of the incoming Warwick and Chidi - despite Chidi calling for the ball - Warwick crashed the ball first time into the roof of the net. That felt good. 3-0 game over. We had reached the final again. In the other semi-final, KFC Tokyo had beaten Manor Utd 2-0 to set up a rematch of the 2000 final which The Animals won 1-0. This was a meeting of the two best teams of the tournament. Both experienced in 6-a-side, both with skilful players and importantly both with big squads. Final : Taipei Animals 1 - KFC Tokyo 2 (After E.T., Golden Goal) Kick-off : 5.00pm Scorer : Norbert In terms of quality football, skill, pace and commitment this was by far the best game of the tournament. As usual in Manila, it took place under dark conditions with the "floodlight" not helping to brighten the pitch. However, this is the same for both teams. The first five minutes were tense as both teams looked for an opening. Chris looked really strong and was unlucky to pick up a yellow card. KFC Tokyo was excellent at running off the ball and created space and opportunities. With a strong defence they were tough opponents. They also pushed the law on substitutions; often taking off their striker as we were attacking at one end so a player would run on at the other end to stop our attack. Still the referee didn't pick it up. It was one of these moves, that brought the first goal. At a corner, a player Warwick was marking ran off the pitch as Kirk, KFC Tokyo's veteran captain came on from the midfield, no one picked him up as he hit a ball past Sam, who was screened by one of our midfielders. It was a soft goal really, and it would be difficult to come back from this position as KFC Tokyo had yet to concede a goal in the two days. Still, the Animals played with passion and with Nobert directing from midfield we created space with some hard running. Half chances came and went, tackles became increasingly fierce and still the Tokyo defence would not yield. The second half was played at breakneck speed with play going from end to end. Crucial saves by Sam and tackles from Chris kept us in the game. High shots came in from Will and Warwick, and Martijn was really close to putting one away with his right foot. Then the referee called one minute to go and we launched one last attack. Emmanuel and Martijn combined well and the ball went to Nobert on the left of the Tokyo penalty area. The Maestro held up the ball, sent two defenders the wrong way and slotted the ball in low past the keeper. Sheer class. Total ecstasy for the Animals team and supporters. The whistle blew at the restart and we had got out of jail. Some confusion followed as some players were unaware of the possible 10 minutes of extra time/golden goal that was to be played. Penalties would have to wait. From the restart we played a long ball that Tokyo picked up worked well down the right, crossed and somehow their striker had time to fire a low shot into the goal. Game over. From ecstasy to despair in 20 seconds. Still, it was a fantastic match to play in, and the supporters were evenly split between the two teams. Sam won best goalkeeper and we all had a great sing-song on the bus back with the Tokyo team. They may have got their revenge from last year, but boy we can party much better!! Usual mayhem ensued with birthday boys Martijn, Nobert and Will be enjoying the entertainment. Neeky ensured that the party went long into the night/morning. All in all a great weekend, and it was a real pleasure to play with this team. We are all champions really with Great Spirit and skill. And there is always next year......... |
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