Aquí tú eres la estrella!
Sunday soccer at Taxqueña Arena. The place where soccer players meet up on Sundays to have fun playing soccer like Messi, Ronaldinho and Chicharito.
Yesterday’s game was special because Amaury and a small part of his group showed up after having had the first 11 a side game of Team International against them about half a year ago (see photo below). It seems like soon they will be ready to have a revenge game.
Every Sunday it is game day in the south of México City!
Several people from all over the world meet up for 1-2 hours to have fun playing soccer in a social environment.
This past Sunday the following players from 10 different countries showed their skills at Taxqueña Arena:
Fun, action and a lot of passion characterized the social soccer games at Taxqueña once more. At yesterday’s Fut7 games 19 soccer fanatics from England, Canada, El Salvador, Belgium, Mexico, Brazil, Germany, France, United States and Colombia played for two hours in the burning sun.
Three teams played at yesterday’s Sunday Casual Soccer Games at Taxqueña Arena. The first team was made out of pure British and North American players, or as Edward called it the British American Tobacco Team. The other two teams where mixed with people from every corner of the world. After having celebrated with Team International the Oktoberfest on Saturday night, one of our players still made the MVP award.
| British American Tabacco | Mixed Team A | Mixed Team B |
| Joshua (ENG) | Pavel (BEL) | Cesar (MX) |
| Jake (ENG) | Pablo (FR) | Israel (MX) |
| Danny (US) | Diego (MX) | Danilo (BRA) |
| Edgar (US) | Hazael (MX) | Wen (MX) |
| Johnny (ENG) | Marcello (BRA) | Edward (KEN) |
| John (UK) | Marcos (MX) | Elias (MX) |
| Ben (AU) | Carlos (Portero) (MX) | Santi (COL) |
| Mario (MX) | Hector (SV) | Luis (MX) |
Mixed Team A was lucky to count on the only goal keeper of the day. Goal keeper Carlos came for the first time to the games and impressively showed that he has been goal keeping all his life. Team British American Tabacco had a slight advantage over the other teams when it came to communication. They quickly agreed to maintain all communication in English, instead of having a wild mix between English and Spanish as it is the case usually with the teams. Mixed Team B on the other side mainly consisted of the latecomers. While Alberto is still on his vacation trip in Belarus, his friend Luis came in representation for him occupying the left wing of Mixed Team B. The team consisted of mainly offensive players with Elias, Edward, Santi and Luis. For the defensive part Wen, Cesar and Danilo were in charge, with Israel maintaining the equilibrium between both extremes.
With a very active referee the teams tried to win every game. The players did not hesitate long to go for the shot. Especially Mixed Team A had some successful games in a row with Pablo aka Moctezuma leading the team to several victories. With Team International he celebrated the Oktoberfest the night before dancing on the tables and drinking beer like there is no tomorrow. Except of there was a tomorrow, in which he showed an excellent performance. He was voted as the MVP of the day by the players after the game. Congratulations Pablo!
While the teams competed in the social games for two hours, our best female player Majo celebrated her … birthday. Due to the injury that she is still recovering from she could not celebrate her birthday with Manni and the rest of the team. Soon she will be back on the pitch though making look several guys like amateurs. We all wish you a happy birthday Majo!!!
MVP: Moctezuma
> This Wednesday Mannichester City will have the return game against PwC. The weekend games will be played as usual.
—
* thanks to photographer Fabi for the great illustrations as always
The numbers are skyrocketing at the famous Taxqueña Arena. At this past Sunday casual soccer meetup of our international community close to 30 people gathered together to show off their new skills.
For the first time in the history of the games of our group “Team International“ 4 teams competed for the golden banana award at Taxqueña Arena. Here a quick summary of each team:
|
Team Mexico |
Jakeventus | Team International |
Team France |
|
Jonny (ENG) |
Edward (KEN) | Danilo (BRA) | Victor |
|
Erick (MX) |
Hazael (MX) | Tom (CA) |
Ronan |
|
Nicho (MX) |
Jake (ENG) | Jesus (MX) |
Hakim |
|
Wen (MX) |
Hector (SV) | Santi (COL) |
Paul Baron |
|
Irving (MX) |
Come (FR) | Ruben (MX) |
Antoine |
| Irving friend (MX) | Cesar (MX) | Josh (ENG) |
Savinien |
| Johnnie (MX) | Danny (US) | Diego (MX) |
Martin |
Team Mexico consisted of purely Mexican players with the edition of English midfielder Jonny, who has not missed a game since his debut 2 months ago. Veteran Wen organized the game from the back in his efficient and calm playing style. His passing statistics: 100% passes completed successfully. Erick, Nicho, Jonny, Johnnie, Irving and his female friend all were in charge for the offensive actions. Especially comebacker Johnnie seemed to show the passionate crowd at Taxqueña Arena that he has not lost his skills despite his long lasting abstinence from the games.
Filled with veteran players of the original Jakventus team (Edward, Hazael, Jake, Hector), French international Côme, us-boy Danny and Mexican defender Cesar the team let some magic happen every once in a while in their tiki-taka like combinations. They started off quite hot with Hazael scoring some quick goals in the first game. Later on the level slowed down a bit with Côme and Edward occasionally firing up a ball in the direction of the opponent’s goal keeper.
Team 3 consisted of players from 5 different countries and 3 different continents, thus the prestigious name Team International. Similar to Team Mexico, Team International had a strong defender with Brazilian Danilo, who organized the team’s game from the back. Always a active member of the team was Canadian giant Tom who ran up and down on the right side going for the shot whenever possible. For the creative moments Rubinski, Diego and Jesus took charge, setting strikers Josh and Santi brilliantly up to score goals. A diverse but very effective team on the pitch!
Probably the most dangerous team of all the four teams. Team France came up with an even more complete version since their victory last weekend at Taxqueña Arena. This time, the team consisted of players 100% made in France. The team’s quality was shown in their mental capacity of always making the right decision and never giving up the ball unnecessarily. Stopping the ball and passing it to the best available team member was executed in a way Zidane could not have taught better. All team members made sure the ball was brought into the opponents half where star striker Antoine often found a way to get into a shooting position firing up a ball with his strong left foot.
All teams won several games during the more than 2 hour lasting games… While the tournament style made the games a bit more competitive (of course no one wanted to have to leave the pitch loosing a game), the games always remained very fair. The referee and the players as well did a great job keeping it all friendly.
After the game some players introduced themselves to the Sport12 community in a small video clip that will be shown in the crowdfunding campaign at the end of this year.
—
* thanks to Fabi for the professional photos shots and Jake for the professional and slightly biased commentary
this Wednesday the Jakeventus A Team aka Mannichester City has a competitive 6-a-side game against the soccer team of the consultancy PwC in the north of the city. The casual soccer games this weekend will take place as usual, accessible for everyone!
23 goals were scored at yesterday’s Sunday Soccer meet-up at Taxqueña Arena. Hakim’s group consisting of French teachers from the Instituto Franco-Mexicano showed up with 5 guys. Antoine and Ronan played for the first time at the Sunday soccer games and brought in some skills to the group.
The French team was complmented by Canadian Tom, Belgium Pavel and English Josh, who made his first appearance for Team International at Saturday’s 11 a side soccer game.
On the other side, team Jakeventus played with the veterans: Wen, Hector, Jake, Edgar and Hazael, complimented by Jonny from England and Santiago from Colombia. Here is the initial lineup of the game:
GK: Jonny (ENG)
Wen (MX) – Hector (SV)
Jake (ENG) – Edgar (US) – Hazael (MX)
Santiago (CO)
——————————
Hakim (FR)
Josh (ENG) – Ronan (FR)
Victor (FR) – Pavel BEL) – Paul (FR)
GK: Tom (CA)
Subs: Antoine (FR), Andrew (US), Fer (MX)
The initial 3-2-1 piramid formation of team France seemed to be more effective than Jakeventus’ 2-3-1 formation. The slightly more motivated French team went with a sovereign 5:2 into half time. The defence of Jakeventus seemed to have some organizational problems in the beginning. After the half time break Jakeventus put in the effort that it takes to win a game. Newcomer Ronan was able to score the 6:2, but then Jakeventus got serious scoring two quick goals, 6:4. From that point on goals were scored on both sides every minute. After playing two times 40 minutes the teams finished exhausted due to the burning sun with an impressive 13:10 victory of team French. The defence of both teams seemed to be napping occasionally.
We are still missing our female player Majo at the games. She injured herself a few weeks ago and will have to recover 2 more months due to her severe incident. We wish her a quick recovery!
Score sheet: Team French vs Jakeventus
| 1stHalf | 2nd Half |
| 1:0 Hakim | 6:2 Ronan |
| 2:0 Hazael (EG) | 6:3 Jake |
| 2:1 Hector | 6:4 Santi |
| 3:1 Victor | 7:4 Hakim |
| 4:1 Hakim | 8:4 Victor (golazo) |
| 5:1 Josh | 8:5 Jonny |
| 5:2 Santi | 8:6 Edgar |
| 9:6 Antoine | |
| 9:7 Jake (solo run) | |
| 10:7 Antoine | |
| 10:8 Edgar | |
| 10:9 Tom (EG) | |
| 11:9 Josh | |
| 12:9 Josh | |
| 12:10 Edgar | |
| 13:10 Josh |
—
* thanks to Fabi for the illustrations of the game
We had an interested change in the lineup of our teams at yesterday’s Sunday Soccer Games. Instead of having several French players as usual, we were happy to welcome several new guys from the UK and Canada. Jon, David, Brook, and Jonny from the UK joined us as well as Corey from Canada, complementing the Canadian block of Troy-Tom-Rob. Alberto’s friend Luis was our new Mexican signing of the game.
Established player Jake gathered his UK team together while the rest played in the other team. Two games were played. The new English guys brought lots of strength into the game. Especially the first game had lots of power. The UK guys were loosing 6:2 but managed to make a come back scoring 4 more goals. Kenyan Edward scored the last two goals. The last one being assisted brilliantly by Jake who decided to go for a solo run and providing the assist for Edward at the end. The final result: 6:6!
Goals
1:0 – Jonny
2:0 – Kim
3:0 – Jonny
4:0 – Alberto
4:1 – Tom
4:2 – Tom
5:2 – Alberto
6:2 – David
6:3 – Tom
6:4 – Jon
6:5 – Edward
6:6 – Edward (solo run and assist of Jake)
In the second game the teams stayed the same. In 40 more minutes Jake’s UK-Jakeventus Team scored one goal after the other. They were also able to count on the only goal keeper Troy who had some great saves. The rotating goal keepers of the opponent team did not posses those skills. At the end pretty much every player of Jakeventus scored. The final result was a shocking 10:3 defeat.
Jakeventus: Jake, Jon, Brook, Corey, Troy, Edward, Tom
Opponent: Hector, Majo, Jonny, Danny, Alberto, Luis, Kim, David
* thanks to photographer Fabi for the illustrations of the game
* for next game we will start to organize someone to bring the water for everyone again
This week Team International could make 3 new signings. With Achille from France, Pavel from Belgium and Tom from Canada the international group is of 3 more offensive players richer.
While many guys played at the competitive 11 a side game on Saturday, 14 players played in the casual soccer games on Sunday.
The “Black Panther” Troy, Hector, Kim, Pavel, Theo, Come and Ruben played against the “White Sharks” Marcos, Tom, Alberto, Luis, Manni, Hazael and Jonas. Hector de El Salvador opened the score line with a strong shot from about 20 meters, his specialty. Always active German Jonas scored the equalizer not long after but Kim, Theo and Côme assured a 4:1 lead before the half time whistle. In the second half Hazael had to complete the list of our injured players. The many games played in the past months seem to show their first negative results… In the second half the offensive French duo Theo and Côme showed why football in France is number one priority. Together they passed the ball around like Griezmann and Mbappe and scored 3 more goals. For the White Sharks newcomer Tom scored a goal and Jonas scored another two goals. Our second newcomer Pavel scored the last goal of the game resulting in a 8:4 victory for Black Panther over White Sharks.
The second game took place on the second pitch. We played the revenge game right away in the burning sun. For some of the people that just made it to Mexico City it was a tough workout coping with the altitude and the heat. However everyone made sure he did his best in order for his team to win. At the end Black Panthers again was the luckier team. They finished 10:3 in their favor with 5 goals scored by striker Côme himself. Kim, Pavel, Marcos (OG) and Theo (x2) complemented the score sheet for Black Panther. Christian, a player from the Sport Center who helped us out filling the open spot due to Hazael’s injury scored the first goal for White Sharks. Towards the end Jonas and Tom with a sneaky goal also put themselves on the score sheet.
White Sharks
Marcos (MX), Tom (CA), Alberto (MX), Luis (MX), Manni (IN), Hazael (MX) and Jonas (GER)
Black Panther
Troy (CA), Hector (SV), Kim (GER), Pavel (BEL), Theo (FR), Come (FR) and Ruben (MX)
* thanks to photographer Fabi for making the players shine in another light
It was the first game of Team International with the new black and white team shirts. 20 people gathered together yesterday to have some fun playing soccer. Not even the rain could stop the enthusiastic players in the quite competitive games.
We split the group into a team with established Team International players and another team consisting of fairly new players: We were happy to welcome Alis (our second female signing after famous Majo), Mateo our 95thFrench signing and Jonas, finally another German signing. Those newcomers were complemented by last weeks newcomers Come + Theo (FR), Danilo (BRA) and Danny (US). Also Raphaël and Irving, who celebrated their comeback after a few months of absence, and Wen and Alberto from team international supported the “newcomer team”.
Surprisingly the established players of Team International that know each other quite well had a very hard time competing against the newcomers. In the first game the newcomers pressured high and always tried to score a goal right away. The tempo of the game was very high. There was not much time goofing around. French Raphaël opened the score line when keeper Manni was more busy looking at the net of the goal than stopping Raphaëls shot. English Jake was able to score the equalizer but the new star signing Jonas from Germany made sure newcomers went with a winning score into half time.
In the second half newcomers defended well and started several counter attacks. Brazilian Danilo was a key factor stabilizing the defense of newcomers like Thiago Silva. One of the counter attacks ended up in another goal finished elegantly by striker Irving. Team Newcomers therefore won the first game 3:1!
For the second game at the second pitch of Taxqueña Arena the revenge came took place. It developed a very competitive game in the poring rain with both teams giving a 100% to win the game. Things even got heated up, but after the game finished hand shakes terminated the small arguments. Goals where scored on both sides every other minute. The motto of both teams was attacking is the best defense. Johnnie, Erick, Irving and Raphaël were the top scorers of the second game. While Wen, Danilo, Manni and Hector were defending as good as they could against the always attacking teams. The final result of the second game between established players of Team International and Newcomers was a fair 8:8.
It were very competitive and equal games with all participants playing on a high level. The improvement of the players is very noticeable, plus the new signings from Brazil, Germany, France and of course Mexico add to the improvement of Team International. Many players deserved the MVP reward of yesterdays game. While Raphaël, Hazael and Layun had good chances to get the vote for the MVP, it was again left winger Majo who got the most votes for the MVP of the game due to here elegant and never giving up playing style together with Brazilian Danilo. Majos presence also seems to motivate her team mates. Danilos intelligent playing style in the defence made the difference today. Congratulations Majo & Danilo!
> This Saturday will be the revenge game of Team International against Mexican All Stars
Newcomers: Alis (MX), Jonas (GER), Mateo (FR), Come (FR), Theo (FR), Danilo (BRA), Danny (US), Raphaël (FR), Irving (MX), Wen (MX), Alberto (MX)
Team International: Majo (MX), Manni (IN), Jake (ENG), Hazael (MX), Erick (MX), Hector (SV), Kim (GER), Fer (MX), Johnnie (MX),
1st Game: 3:1 for Newcomers
Goals: Raphaël (1:0), Jake (1:1), Jones (2:1), Irving (3:1)
2nd Game: 8:8
Goals: Pretty much everyone
MVP: Majo & Danilo
* special thanks to dream team Hector and Fabi for providing the water for the team and the great images of the games. Star photograph Fabi knows no (rain) barriers when it comes to showing Team International’s star players in the best light.
Sunday Soccer at Polideportivo los Culhuacanes. In a casual 7-a-side game Team International defeated Equipo Rojo with 6:3.
Several players were not able to attend the game due to injuries. We hope Layún, Ben and Luis will recover soon. On the other side female midfielder Majo made here comeback! Majo was in good shape making herself available whenever possible and creating chance after chance for her team. Due to her intelligent playing style and Edgar’s finishing skills Team International won 6:3 in the first game.