Aquí tú eres la estrella!
So here we are with again an interesting encounter between Mexicans and internationals, the never ending rivalry. Team international always in the pressure to make up for lost games in 2018, and Mexicans always pushing up to keep their winning pride intact.
Last saturday was little bit warmer and an ideal condition to put in the best on the pitch. Both teams were punctual and met everybody with warm handshakes.
It was another attempt of the international Team captained by Indian defender Manni to win against the Mexican team on last Saturday’s 11-a-side game. With 3 french players (Pablo, Selim and Gregory) and 3 US players (Ryan, Mark and newcomer Jose), the international team relied on their 4-4-2 system. The Mexicans started in a similar system, switched successfully in the second half to a more offensive 3-5-2 system:
Today Team International might have gathered the two best teams in the history of Taxqueña Arena games. With Mohammed the group got to know its first star player from Qatar. He just arrived to Mexico, so he is still struggling with the altitude. Something most of us can realte to.
Arturo and Kim picked the teams in the beginning. Soon it was clear that it would be a special day at Taxqueña Arena. Special, because female midfielder Majo returned after her injury about two months ago. She was managing the game from outside. Special also, because both teams had top class players that allowed a very fast game. Well, two games.
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:
October 20th, Rancho Viejo
A new experience for Team International’s Mannichester FC. The team played for the first time on an 11-a-side natural grass pitch. Several people did not have the right cleats for such a rare but fantastic soccer pitch. But the team consisting of players from Venezuela, Germany, India, United States, El Salvador and Mexico did a great job on their first competitive game on natural grass.
After a quick team discussion right before the game, the following line-up was decided on with a 4-4-1-1 formation:
On October 18th, Team International traveled to the north of Mexico City to play against another international team.
The players from France (Max & Pablo), England (Josh & Jake), Mexico (Alberto & Wen) India (Manni) and Germany (Kim) were ready to confront another team to get more competitive experience.
How serious the players take those competitive games can be shown by the effort put in by Wen. Living in Xochimilco he generally has it quite difficult to reach the games. For this game, he did not hesitate to take an Uber for 60 kilometers paying 700 pesos just for the Uber! That’s what we call commitment at Team International!
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.
It all looked like Mannichester would be again to strong for a selective team of PwC employees. After having lost the first game 18:7, PwC wanted to make sure they would leave the pitch of the return game as winners. But until half time the consultants were loosing 7:4 already. The possibility of having to loose again against the international team of newly created Mannichester were high.
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.
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* thanks to photographer Fabi for the great illustrations as always
