Fourth game between Latinos and Rest of the World, first winner!

Mexico City, February 25th

This past Saturday the teams of players from Latin America and Rest of the world played for the fourth time, after having tied the games before. This time, one team was able to bring home the victory! 

Both teams welcomed two new players to their team. Angel from Mexico and Oscar from Venezuela joined the Latinos for the first time. Mathieu’s French friends Manu and Olivier also supported ROW for the first time. Bienvenidos campeones!

Team ROW had 4 players from France, 3 players from the US, and one player each from Japan, Portugal, Kenya and England. 

Team Latinos had 4 players from Mexico, 3 players from Venezuela, and one player each from El Salvador, Brazil, Colombia and Japan (Fumi seems to start feeling he is a latino after living in Mexico for a while). 

Team captains Hector and Deyban organized their teams in the following formations:

Rest of the World

Mike (US)

Tomo (JAP) – Danny (US) – Manu (FR) – Olivier (FR)

Mathieu (FR) – Nico (FR) – Deyban (POR) – Ryan (US)

Edward (KEN) – Josh (ENG)

—

Fumi (JAP) – Ferro (VEN)

Bob (MX) – Emil VEN) – Manuel (MX) – Christian (COL)

Angel (MX) – Oscar (VEN) – Hector (SV) – Andre (BRA)

Carlos (MX)

Latinos

First half: Both teams with offensive drive

It was an action packed game on both sides. Both teams wanted to be the winner in the fourth encounter. And both teams played and offensive soccer, pressing high and trying to play quickly towards the opponent’s goal. Due to the fact that both teams had to organized their newly formed squad, here and there opportunities arrived for the other team. 

The best chances for both teams had Venezuelan Ferro and French Mathieu. Ferro got a through ball and had to go around Japanese defender Tomo. But in team ROW the members help each other. While Tomo was passed, Danny, who successfully took the central defender position this day, came to help out in the last moment. He did not manage to get the ball but he distracted Ferro good enough to not let him take a precise shot. Goalkeeper IronMike was able to make a save. 

Mathieu on the other side managed to score a goal when he got the ball and suddenly stood in front of goalkeeper Carlos. Mathieu hit the ball over Carlos, but the lines man indicated that the French man was offsite. 

Second half: Josh puts it in 

15 minutes into the second half the first goal of the game was scored after a fine combination. Deyban, who ones again organized the game of his team from the central midfielder position brilliantly, passed the ball to the right wing where Mathieu was left unmarked. The French man ran a few more meters down the line before passing the ball to his French team mate Nico in the box. Nico cleverly let the ball pass him and his opponent. This clever move left Josh with the ball unmarked. The English striker, who just got accepted to Stanford University (!!!) took a shot that left goalkeeper Carlos with no chance. 

Latinos had 10 more minutes for the equalizer. They put in all their effort to push forward but ROW was very organized on this day. Deyban and Nico controlled the midfield and the long balls were all cleared by central defender Danny. His athleticism was an important factor here. 

Therefore, the final whistle blow of the referee soon finished the game with ROW winning for the first time against Latinos. As the past 3 games before, it was a tight and always fair game. The rivalry will continue…

Latinos – Rest of the World 0:1

Goals: Josh (’40)

Highlights