Intercontinental Soccer Competition

The competition was to be played over one day so each team had a squad of 15 players, with 9 on the pitch at any one time and there was no limit on substitutions. The sides were split into two groups of three (Group 1: Slovakia, Czech Republic and U.S.A., Group 2: Greece, Finland and Ireland). Each team would then play their group opponents once to decide the final group places. The second placed teams in each group would then play off for 3rd and 4th place, while the group winners would meet to decide the overall champions.

So at 09.00 the games commenced with the derby meeting of the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Each group game was 20 minutes a half and it was the Czechs who hit the ground running with a 4v0 victory. Next up it was Greece and Ireland who produced a close fought contest with the Irish winning by a single goal to nil. Next the U.S.A. came up against the Czechs, with the “home” side enjoying great support. Alas this was not enough to stop a strong Czech team claiming the victory by 2v0 and again keeping a clean sheet. The Finns now began their campaign against the Irish who were still recovering from their tough contest with Greece. Ireland though put on another strong display and defeated the Finns 4v0. The final Group 1 match turned out to be the most exciting of the group stages as Slovakia and the U.S.A. played out a five goal thriller with the Slovakians edging it 3v2 to claim 2nd spot in Group 1. Greece then beat Finland by 2v0 to finish runners up to Ireland in Group 2.

The final group places were:

With the group stages finished it was time to decide the 3rd and 4th place playoff in which Slovakia was to take on Greece. This turned out to be an enjoyable but tense game which the Greeks won 2v1 with goals from Cpl Tsoutis Efthimios and Cpl Maroulis Dimitrios, despite an excellent performance from none other then the Slovakian Contingent Commander, Lt Col Alexander Kollarik, in goal. It was now time for the final between the Czech Republic and Ireland. This match was to be 30 minutes a half and there was great anticipation from both sets of supporters who were anxious to cheer their side on to victory. The match was a great advert for the game of football and was played out in a great spirit by both teams but in the end the Irish emerged victorious 4-1 with two goals from Stephen Fisher and one each from Daniel Keane and Kieran McNally. The Czechs responded with a goal from David Dubsky, while special thanks must go out to Greek referee Sotirios Liolias who did a great job in handling the game.

Overall the tournament was a great success and a great boost to the moral of all those who took part. Many friendships were foraged and it helped to foster even stronger relationships between all the participating contingents. Many thanks must go out to the officials who helped to organize the event especially Mr. Marcus Wheeler, the Supervisory Sports/Recreation Specialist in Camp Bondsteel and also to the referees and their assistants who helped make the whole day a success. In the end it was up to Lieutenant Colonel Michael Murphy OC 38th Irish Infantry Group to hand out the trophies and medals to the winners and certificates of participation to all the teams and to send them off with warm words of praise ringing in their ears.

(Story by Lieutenant Stephen O Byrne)