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Five months have flied by, D day is getting close and we feel we’re just not quite ready to leave Congo. Not yet. It is by now we are getting settled, we know what are the expectations every training, which bus to take, which player is really injured or just complaining because he/she is tired. All these small things that make you feel you are home, are the things we feel right now. But this letter is not going to be about the sad part of soon leaving Congo and how little time we have left, it is going to be about things that we have experienced the past month and that we will remember when we get back to (right now) cold Sweden.

Getting ready for training

In the beginning of january we’ve had elections of team captain for each category. This is something that the players have voted for and most of the chosen ones see this as a great honor even if this means more responsibility. The captain is responsible of the warm ups, getting the team together and other small team responsibilities. When we asked who wanted to be  a captain this coming season, almost all the players lifted a hand a shouted ME! ME!. It became a bit of a chaos and we had to calm everybody down and repeat the question and after a while we had 4 nominees. Then again we had to do the voting to choose a captain and an assisting captain, finally after a a couple of times trying to do it as calmly as possible, we had a Captain and assisting captain.

The kids here love to play football, there is no doubt about that, but sometimes they can also be very lazy. The training theme during january has been fitness and in the coming month we will be practicing technique. Somehow, as soon as we get to an exercise that is a bit more demanding, there is always someone that comes to us and complaints about their foot or something else and that they cannot do this exercise. They can then ask if we have some medicine to help them get better and i would ask them if the pain is that bad that they have to interrupt the training and in that case they will not be able to play the game at the end of the training, suddenly the pain is not an issue anymore and they go back to the training as if nothing happened. It seems i have some amazing healing forces with some of my words…

We continue with technique exercises in march as well. We have also decided to work with the players positioning. This is something we notice during Gothia Cup and also here during the games. The kids have good techniques but also difficulties knowing their positions and respecting their and the other players’ positions. We will then practice different situations such as: Who am i going to pass to? and What do i do after i have passed the ball?

In the end of march we will also start playing games against other teams, it will be fun to watch the kids use their football knowledge and see them competing.

Greetings from us football volunteers – via Simon

‘Team of the Week’ is a series of articles that tell about interesting teams registered to Gothia Cup. If you have an interesting story you wish to share about your club or team, please contact us and let us know.

BP in the finals

The year was 1942, in the areas around Brommaplan in Stockholm, where the sports association IF Brommapojkarna was founded. The youth sports section started 12 years later and today IF Brommapojkarna is Europe’s largest club with no less than 4000 active players scattered among 240 teams in different age categories. Brommapojkarna have been to Gothia Cup 29 years. This summer, they come back to Göteborg and celebrate their 30th year participating in Gothia Cup.

The preparations for this summer’s tournament are going well, Brommapojkarna will participate in Gothia Cup with approximately 22 teams, boys and girls. – This feels great and it’s going to be a lo of fun, says Peter Kisfaludy, sports manager for the youth section.

Peter Kisfaludy has been to Göteborg for the Gothia Cup since 1986. For Peter, the Gothia Cup is much more than just football. It’s great, it’s awesome and it’s an impressive tournament and experience that every young footballer should be part of at least once in life. – We really hope that all of our teams and players have the chance to participate in Gothia Cup, says Peter.

Brommapojkarna have the most victories in Gothia Cup through the years. They have played their way to the finals 35 times and won 21 of these. The first victory was in 1980, after that, the years and the victories just kept on coming. Peter explains that the secret behind all these victories is the high level of football their teams have thanks to the great coaches and most of all a great experience competing agains international teams. They train the entire spring and summer to be at their best when coming to Göteborg and the Gothia Cup.

Glad BP supporters during a final

One special victory is the one we took against Italian Voluntas in 1981. – Voluntas is a great team, it felt so great to win against them, says Peter. He also tells us that the communication and friendship between the Italian club and BP has always been really good. It has always been even matches.

The goals for this summer’s Gothia Cup is to win at least two age categories. -Our Girls12 team has played in a boys league this year and has won . They are going to Gothia with huge expectations-. Brommapojkarna are counting on bringing home the gold in this age category. As well on the boy’s side, -the Boys11 team is one we have big hopes for and great belief. Hopefully they will also bring home the gold in their age categroy- concludes Peter.

We wish to welcome IF Brommapojkarna to Göteborg and the Gothia Cup this summer!

Gothia Cup cooks along

This past wednesday, the Gothia Cup’s office stab attended a cooking course. As the host was Carl Almgren, a well known Swedish Chef.Carl guided us through the art of cooking tasty dishes with small means. The goal was also to learn how we can make a great meal even if produced in large volumes.

-It is very inspiring to see a professional Chef cook, it looks so simple, says Maria Hagelquist, tournament coordinator. The tournamnet director, Lena Rönnerfors, agrees with Maria and adds, I think most people understands the difficulty of cooking in such large volumes but we have got some inspiration now and we are willing to develop.

We really hope this gave us some serious inspiration and that we can present a more exciting menu this summer.

After a long time of being an active part of the football world, Ford decides now to step in the Gothia Cup’s family of partners.

- The collaboration with Gothia Cup is a natural step we take after 18 years of commitment that Ford has had with UEFA Champions League, says Anna Müller, Managing Director of Ford Sweden. She wants now to be part of the support to youth football and where Gothia Cup is a given choice.

Football gives many kids and young people the opportunity to have fun and exercise, Anna continues. In addition to this, the sport also contributes with forming good values and sportsmanship, collaboration, team feeling and this is something we really want to be part of. Gothia Cup is happy over this new partnership and sees the value of being related to the football veteran that is Ford, whom has proudly been main partner of UEFA Champions League since the start.

-Football, Ford and Gothia Cup feels like a perfect combination and this partnership will give the tournament a great lift. Ford is a strong brand and we are very motivated to begin our collaboration together, assures Roger Andersson, marketing manager at Gothia Cup.

The marketing of the collaboration will be done both during the Gothia week as well as the rest of the year and includes an exciting campaign  throughout the country, among other things.

Since Gothia Cup’s beginning in 1975, MacDonald’s has been a loyal partner to Gothia Cup. The partnership has now been extended for three more years.

- It is with great pleasure we continue our collaboration, says Roger Andersson, marketing responsible at Gothia Cup. McDonald’s has a special place in our hearts as it was actually thanks to them that this tournament was made possible for 35 years ago-

McDonald’s gladly supports young footballers and they see this opportunity as well to expose their name during the Gothia Cup:

-Many of the players have traveled from very far and McDonald’s is a familiar name for them, says Charlotte Sterning, marketing consultant-

The collaboration has been exposed in many ways through the years and the presentation of McDonal’s for coming years will be focused to to the main area of Heden Center.

Team of the Week is a series of articles that tell about interesting teams registered to Gothia Cup. If you have an interesting story you wish to share about your club or team, please contact us and let us know.

The city of Kamishly is located in the northwest part of Syria, just some kilometers from the Turkish border. The city is one of Syria’s largest with a population of approx. 230 000. In this city we find also a club with players that are quite nervous but also full of expectations. The club, that has taken its name from their home city, will be the first one to represent their country at the Gothia World Youth Cup. The preparations for the trip are in progress and the team is training almost daily, tells Gothia Cup’s contact  Issa Issa.

Issa Issa is member of the Syrian Arab Association in Gothenburg. Through his contacts in Stockholm and Syria, he will make it possible for these boys, born 92-93, to participate in Gothia Cup. A total of 25 players, 6 coaches, 4 leaders and one doctor will travel from Syria to Gothenburg to the Gothia Cup.

- The boys are really looking forward to this and the visit to Sweden. They have heard that Sweden is a safe country, where everything is nice, well cared and beautiful nature. Because of the fact that this will be the first time Syria will be represented in Gothia Cup, it feels extra exciting- says Issa Issa.

The Bishop and the church in Syria are helping economically to make this trip possible for the boys. During their visit in Sweden and Gothenburg the team will be staying at the facilities of the Syrian Arab Association in Gothenburg.

-The goal is to play and get to know teams from other countries and of course, represent Syria. We are of course aiming to win the Cup, this will be a lot of fun- says Issa Issa.

Gothia Cup welcomes the club Kamishly and Syria to Gothenburg this summer!

The Gothia Cup is the world’s largest and most international youth football tournament. Approximately 1500 teams participate every year. About 700 of these teams are from other countries outside Sweden. USA, Norway, England, Brazil and Germany are the countries with most participation but 60 nations are usually represented in the tournament.

This year it seems that the world’s most international youth tournament becomes even more international. There are 20% more teams registered from outside Sweden for the edition of 2010. This compared to last year’s number of registered teams from abroad right around these days.

”The Gothia Cup has become a very strong trade mark around the world and this is manifested every year” says Niclas Andersson, marketing manager. ” The fact that every year we manage to increase the number of teams from abroad is fantastic. Gothia Cup is the meeting point for the world’s youth and a dream for many young footballers around the world. More teams from abroad means that more dreams are coming true”.

Two new nations that have never participated before, are ready for the 2010 edition. These nations are Qatar and Syria. You can see the list of nations registered for 2010 here.

It is very simple to place a banner into your website. The banners are in many different sizes and all you need to do is copy the code that corresponds to the size best suitable for your website. Find your banner here.

You want to see how it looks? visit the following website to see an example BK Häcken’s website here.

Located by the Moldau river, Prague is one of the world’s most beautiful cities, with all its fantastic buildings and impressive architecture. The city has approximately 1.2 million inhabitants and is often called ”the city of towers” for its narrow but tall buildings. This city is also hometown of many successful and distinguished football clubs.

In the beginning of february, the Gothia Cup head office travelled to Prague to meet dear old friends to the tournament. Through the years, Gothia Cup has been visited by more than 15 different Czech football clubs.

Gothia Cup in Prague

Sparta Praha participated in Gothia Cup for the first time in 1991, back then representing Czechoslovakia. The club has brought up  great players such as Pavel Nedved and Peter Cech and this club can be proud of having one of Europe’s most awesome training facilities. Surrounded by the world’s largest arena with capacity for 200 000 spectators. The club house and 7 full size football fields are located in the arena’s inner field. This colossal building was built in the 1930’s and was used mostly for military displays and large gymnastic events.

SK Motorlet Praha has participated in Gothia Cup with no less than 14 teams. The first time in 1991 and since then, they have been frequent visitors. The club has today more than 550 active young members in the association and in year 2012 it will be their 100th anniversary. Every weekend of january, the club arranges indoor tournaments for youngsters. The young Czech players show already from the ages of 8 that they have mature technical skills.

During this trip, the Gothia Cup head office staff took the chance to have smaller conferences about the development of the tournament. Some of the results from these conferences will be experienced by the teams visiting us already this summer.

We send our warmest regards to all the people we met in Prague and thank them for their extraordinary hospitality. We are looking forward to see them again this summer at Gothia Cup 2010 and give them back a bit of Swedish hospitality.

Meet The World is a project that Gothia Cup runs with SKF. The project consists of mini tournaments in places around the world with the aim of creating international meeting points for youngsters regardless of gender, social backgrounds, age, culture and religion. These tournaments take place in strategically chosen locations around the world and where the winning teams are granted the travel and participation costs and get to represent their country and SKF in Gothia Cup 2010.

This year, Meet The World will be arranged in China, Brazil, South Africa and Russia to name some countries. We will have teams representing the majority of the world’s continents.

The Gothia Cup organization wishes all participating teams good luck. We all look forward to welcome all winning teams to Gothia Cup and Gothenburg this summer.

Matej Delac

It was during the tournament of 2007 when the (then) 15 year old keeper Matej Delac won the Gothia Cup in the 18 year old class together with croatian team mates from NK Inter-Zapresic. They played and won the final against swedish IF Elfsborg 1-0. NK Inter-Zapresic got the chance to participate in Gothia Cup after winning a ”Meet the World” tournament in Croatia. Meet the World is a global international event that Gothia Cup arranges together with major sponsor SKF. Prize for the winning team is the travel and participation to the Gothia World Youth Cup. Matej has now signed a five year contract with Chelsea.

Matej Delac is 17 years old and will join the London-based club after his 18th birthday in August, later this year.

Gothia Cup  congratulates and wishes Matej Delac good luck with his professional football career. We will keep our eyes open for the Gothia All Star Team, as we are missing a goal keeper for the moment….

Gothia Cup represented at the convention

Besides all the seminars for the coaches and leaders, there is a large exhibition area with everything from technical football gadgets and big sports companies to travel agencies and tournament organizers.

The Gothia Cup was represented and had an exhibition booth where coaches could get information about the tournament. For the past 20 years, more than 1500 teams from USA have participated in Gothia Cup and we notice that our tournament is well known among the participants and visitors of the exhibition.

It’s a great feeling when leaders and coaches come to us and tell us their experience as young players in Gothia Cup, being this one of their strongest football memories. They could tell us in detail their meetings with other european teams and how an african team thank them for the game played by singing to them. It’s amazing to see how great the Gothia Cup family has expanded during the years and everyone that has participated contributes to the greatness of the tournament by keeping dear memories that never fade away.

Lufthansa giving 1st prize to champions B14

With the world’s youth as target group, a collaboration with a company as Lufthansa is of great significance for the tournament. - It is extremely valuable for us to reach out to our contacts around the world and not only to the participants that visit us during Gothia Cup. Thanks to the collaboration with Lufthansa we reinforce this opportunity and see a big potential in our marketing strategies,- says Roger Andersson, marketing director at Gothia Cup.
About 35 000 particpate in Gothia Cup, half of these visit us from abroad. The flights into Gothenburg are many and these are favorable circumstances for Lufthansa, whom also sees the value of beeing associated with such a strong trademark.

-We are very happy to continue the collaboration with Gothia Cup, says Håkan Bäverstrand, sales director for Lufthansa Sweden. With the help of our global network, it feels good to be able to transport safely all these kids from all over the world to experinece a fantastic week in Gothenburg. We look forward to develop the collaboration with this impressive and professional football celebration that is Gothia Cup, with significative values that extend globally , all year around

Maria Vargas Galeote

They will visit us with no less than 9 girl teams to participate in Gothia cup 2010. ”We usually participate in a tournament every summer, with all the teams from the school, we have been doing this for the past eight years now and we believe is a great way to finish the season. Taking the girls on a trip so they can be together and share all they’ve been trough, all the work, all the good moments, all the bad moments, all the hope, all the disapointmnets; and all while doing what they love the most: playing football” – says Maria Vargas Galeote, sports director at Atlético de Madrid Féminas.
Maria adds that this trip is not just for the girls, ”For us coaches and leaders, is a great way to get to know each other better, we all work really hard the whole season and we find hardly any time to talk about anything else than football”. We see this as perfect experinece of togetherness, friendship, team work, toughness, braveness, fun and of course football..”

The girls training

We ask Maria the resaon why they chose to come to Gothia Cup this year: ” We have many girl teams and it is sometimes difficult to find tournaments in Spain that have that many age categories and participating girl teams. That is why we decided to expand our horizons a bit and travel abroad, where we know there is more girls football and well appreciated. We have heard so many positive things from teams that have been to Gothia Cup, as one of the best and most prestigious youth tournamens where the number of participating girl teams and categories is espectacular” – adds Maria.

”We believe that this can be a great experience and we will truly make sure to enjoy ourselves and develop as players and coaches of girls football”-

We want to welcome all players, coaches, leaders and parents from Atlético de Madrid Feminas to Gothia Cup this summer. We wish you all good luck with the preparations and we look forward to see you in Gothanburg!

The school has been closed during december, this was a break for all activities in the school for the entire month and that we restart now in the begining of january. This was an oportunity for us volunteers to rest and charge batteries for the upcoming challenges that the spring will bring, even if we did not really rest, our batteries are well charged and we are looking forward to the next period.

We have been wanting to make a trip to the north since october and this trip came to finally happen in december. I can shortly resume the trip to a very exciting and educational. We visited intressting places we never thought we see here in Congo, hiked into the reinforest in hope to see some elefants, unfurtunately we only got to see their traces. By the end of our trip we were very tired but very gratefull to have a couple of days to actually rest before returning to Brazzaville. Above all we were also very happy with our trip, even if some things were not the way we thoght they would be, we are glad we did this trip.

We have now only a cuple of days left of free time and we all want to get started with the training activities. Louise was unfurtunately forced to fly back to Sweden after a long sickness period. It is not so fun to be here and not be able to participate in the activities, so now is only me and Elin that will continue. We feel healthy and very good about our host families and the fotball school.

//Football volunteers in Brazzaville – by Simon

Looking forward to see you next summer!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

The Gothia Cup stab:
Malin Johnson, Maria Hagelqvist, Jorge Gomez, Anna Holmberg
Niclas Andersson, Lena Rönnefors, Dennis Andersson. (Missing in picture: Roger Andersson and Marcus Jodin)

Football was introduced to Mexico in the end of the 1800 by english men that came to the country as advisors for the mining industry. For these men, football was a usual way to have fun and kill some time. It was then when workers at the mine company Real del Monte de Pachuca, started the first football team in the year 1900. Today, Mexico has a well organizaed football system. The Mexican Football Federation is the governing body in football in Mexico and administers the Mexican national team, the national league and affiliated amateur sectors. The League consists of 4 professional divisions: Primera Division, Liga de Ascenso, Segunda Division and Tercera Division.

Club Deportivo Paris

Jorge’s visit extended to over 6 cities, mainly in the central parts of Mexico. Major established clubs were visited but also schools and sports asociations. Together with Gothia Cups representative, Patricia Espinosa, Jorge visited in Mexico City the Club Deportivo Paris, which were one of the very first mexican clubs to participate in the Gothia Cup.

The trip to Mexico was very successful and already next year we will have the pleasure of seeing some of these clubs participate in Gothia Cup. We are pleased with the relations we were able to establish and the new friends we’ve made. We hope that more teams from Mexico are able to travel to Gothenburg and the Gothia Cup.

In this month’s newsletter you can read about:

Gothia Cup Invitational B17
Gothia Cup and Swedish Elite Football (SEF) will continue its colaboration around the invitational class for 17 year old Boys during Gothia Cup 2010.

Gothia Cup visits Lebanon and Iceland

Fotboll school in Congo Brazzaville
Gothia Cup’s volunteers have been there for almost a month now. Read their report and about how their daily rutine around the project takes shape.

Gothia Cup on the Web

Tournament presentation

Gothia Cup has colaborated with Tonsport since 2002 and this has made possible for over 100 teams from Iceland to participate in the tournament. The Gothia Cup is an event of great interest in Iceland, approximately 20 teams participate in the tournament every year. Despite of the economic crisis during 2008/2009, about 15 teams were able to make it to Göteborg this year and participate.

Football has been making great progress in Iceland the past years and many club have today access to great training facilities with the best artificila filelds, indoor halls and gym facilities.
The objective of the visit was to reinforce the interest of Gothia Cup in that country and treat the great interest and curiosity of Iceland media.

On Icelands biggest football site fotbolli.net, you can read more about our visit (in icelandic).

All players outside the club house

It is the small things that make one day different than the other. It can be planting trees after a day’s training or being forced to almost put your life on the line to get a place on the bus to Mflilou. It can be sitting in a taxi when the driver suddently realizes that the car needs gasoline and the nearest gas station has only one pump that works… as well as ten queuing cars in front of us, all in a well organised chaos difficult to understand; and you have to wait twenty minutes before you can continue your journey. It can be your congolian host family bringing you breaksfast to your bed on your birthday and singing happy birthday in both swedish and french.

Things like coming to the training to coach and realising that you should always have a plan B…. or even a plan C. For me, a swedish girl with a ”touch” of control necessity and a bit stressed to perform, this felt at a start like an impossible task. How are you supposed to coach a group that starts with seven kids and at the end you have twenty two? But that’s how it is for a while, you find your own tricks to make the trainings work and you get some good advise from the other coaches. My french is getting better and i come to realize that the huge mountain i had in front of me at the beginning is now only a small hill i have to climb. I know i will get through this day and this is what it’s all about, the challenges i am forced to face everyday, cultural chocks that get easier by the day and all the meetings with other people will become etched into my memory forever. At dusk, after a day’s coaching in Mfilou i hopp on a bus and i think to myself that right now i wouldn’t change places with anybody in the entire world.

Volunteer as referee

In the past two weeks, we have started working at our assigned facilities. Simon spends most of his time at Tomas Sankara, Louise coaches the kids at Mansimou and i spend four days a week at Mfilou. The trainings are almost over for this year and the past weeks have also been for new registrations of kids to the three facilities. On Saturday (28/11) all the 14 year old kids will participate in a test game and starting next week all kids go on holidays and come back in january. During holidays, we volunteers are planning a trip to the north to enjoy some of the rainforest and the jungle life. Even though it’s going to be exciting to get out of Brazzaville for a while, we are already looking forward to the new year. Because it is the football the reason we are here for, and it is when we meet all this children we understand why we want to spend seven months of our lives in Congo, away from family and friends.

//Football volunteers in Brazzaville – by Elin

Beirut FA's training fields

On july 15th 2006, Beirut FA was on its way to Gothenburg and the Gothia Cup for the very first time. All air fares and visas were cleared. For the first time in history , a team from Lebanon was going to participate in Gothia Cup. This same day, the first bombs fell over Beirut. A terrified coach calls the Gothia Cup’s offices and lets us know that it is impossible to fly out of Lebanon as the airport had been destroyed. He tells us that he will try to get to Syria and fly out from Damascus. Some hours later the coach calls again to let us know that it did not work, the only communicating bridge had also been destroyed in the attacks. But he did’nt want to give up yet, their last option was to get to Cypress by sea and fly out from there. Unfurtunately even this option did not go through and the 30 youngsters that had been looking forward to this trip for the past year, could see their dream vanish in front of them.
One year later, on july 14th 2007, The founder of Beirut FA Ziad Saade arrives in Swedish grounds; with him are 3 teams and approximately 40 kids ready to play football.

In 1999 Ziad Saade took his degree in IT Ingeneering, but his burning interest in football was so great that he could not see himself sitting in front of a computer all day. He decides at 22 years old to apply for a position as a Physical Education teacher at the AUST (American University of Science and Technology). During his time there he learns everything about how football works in Lebanon and how to organize asociations among other things. With this new skills, in 2003, Ziad opens the football academy Beirut FA. Today the academy trains approximately 300 youngsters and has been participating in Gothia Cup the past three years.

Gothia Cup’s marketing director Niclas Andersson refers to his visit to Lebanon in a very positive way. ”Lebanon is a very beautiful country and the people is very friendly, although the football in Lebanon has to develop some more, they are on a very good path towards great improvement.”- says Niclas. ”Most of the country’s football clubs have more teams playing in the leagues and the expansion of the sports sector’s infrastructure is getting better and faster” adds the directive. He sees this visit as a success and is proud of the new relations established in Lebanon, he hopes that more teams from this country have the chance to travel to Göteborg and the Gothia Cup

Gothia Cup on YouTube

Over 15 000 have already susucribed to the Gothia Cup newsletter, a figure that increases constantly. The newsletter is sent every month to all our suscribers via e-mail and contains the latest updates on the tournament. Suscription to the Gothia Cup newsletter is free and pretty simple. If you want to suscribe to receive the newsletter, you only need to register your e-mail here.

Gothia Cup has over 100 clips on YouTube. Here you can find videoclips from the opening ceremony, the finals, interviews and much more. The clips in YouTube have been shown over a million times! We are of course very proud of this. You can find our own You Tube page here. All clips are also available in Gothia Cup webb-TV here at gothiacup.se

In Facebook is where the interest in Gothia Cup has increased the most. Here you can find many GC pages and groups. The official Gothia Cup page has over 3500 ”fans” and the numbers just keep growing by the day. This page is a great place to meet people that have been, will be or want to be Gothia Cup participants. Share your experiences or just say hello to all the other Gothia fans. You can become a Gothia Cup Facebook fan by clicking here.

We are constantly developing new ways of getting accross and keep you informed about the tournament. We will launch new functions and applications on our website. Keep yourself updated to find out more.

One of the grandstands during a B17 game

The B17 class will have an improved colaboration with the Swedish TipsElite, which means that quality of participating teams is guaranteed. Most of the games will be played at Valhalla IP which will be equipped to be used as a Centre for this class. The arena will have larger grandstands for more espectators and a more intimate feeling. Some of the games will also be played at the always well visited Heden fields.

We had a great response and public success in the past tournament and we are thrilled to be able to bring back this event next summer. When teams like Wolverhampton, Crystal Palace, Cruzeiro, Paris FC to name some, encounter the best Swedish youth clubs, we can excpect no less than great public success. ”The diversity around Gothia Cup is unique and the B17 class adds to it” – says Lena Rönnefors, tournament director.

In this month’s issue you can read about:

The very first to register for 2010
On september 10th at exactly 09.00 am we opened the online registration for the Gothia Cup 2010.

Highlights and goals from all finals
You can now find all goals from the finals 2009 played at the Gamla Ullevi arena at our Gothia web-tv

Highlights from the Opening Ceremony
We have picked out some of the best moments from this year’s opening ceremony. You can see them on our web-tv.

Book Hotels
Teams, parents and accompanying supporters can book a hotel with us at Gothia Cup.

Click here to read the entire issue

When we arrived in Brazzaville there was an ongoing football tournament at one of the Gothia school facilities at Mfilou. Different teams from Brazzaville in ages that ranged between 9-16 yrs old were invited. During our first week we watched some matches, met with leaders, coaches and players and at the same time trying to get ourselves acclimatized. The missionary church was also celebrating its 100th year anniversary all over Congo. We got the chans to take part of the opening mass, there was many people, a lot of singing and many speakers. It was a new experience that lasted four hours.

We left to Pointe Noire on september 27th to attend a two week french course and to learn about customs in Congo and about their culture. We stayed at an old swedish school called Sueco, within walking distance to the town and the ocean. Apart from the french studies, we had some spare time to visit different markets, swim in the ocean and surf. During our stay in Pointe Noire we had much spare time, furtunately books and games kept us busy.

Now we are back in Brazzaville and we can finally experinece a ”normal day” as volunteer. We have been placed with families where we are getting installed. We have also started to work with the football project and during the coming weeks we will be taking turns visiting the three football facilities around the city. Everything else seems to be working pretty good despite of the cultural differences and we are learning new things everyday. Elin and Louise’s biggest problem so far have been the mosquito bites and Louise is the first out with malaria. After three weeks of stomach aches, sicknes and feber we are a bit reliefed to know what all of this came from and hopefully she will get a lot better in a few days with the help of some medicine.

Hopefully we can soon get into the rutines here and eventually have a normal day at work.

Greetings from us football volunteers
Elin, Louise and Simon

FC Brazzaville from Gothia Cup’s and Swedish Missionary church’s football school in Kongo got a pretty unique experience, thanks to the help of a sponsor they got the oportunity to participate. They played well and advanced to A-paly off where it all ended. But above all, they took home some amazing experiences to share with their family and friends at the football school.

Two new members were chosen to be part of the honorable Gothia Cup Hall of Fame.
Dante Mandriotti, AD Cantolao from Perú and Patricia Espinosa, agent from México.

Something to remember was during the opening ceremony when 46 000 people played the ”human” Guitar Hero. The feeling for rythm and timing you all showed must of been something unique.

It also felt great to enter our new finals arena Gamla Ullevi, this place really offers you the feeling of a pro-game. On top of that, the Swedish sports channel Viasat broadcasted the finals the same way they do with Champions League. Well, Gothia is actually the World Youth Cup so the attention is really deserved.

Gothia Cup in colaboration with the Swedish Elite Football Association (SEF) arranged this year an invitational tournament for boys 17 yrs old. 24 temas from elite clubs participated. Half of the teams from Sweden and the rest from Europe, Brazil and México. This age category got a great deal of attention on the media and the matches were tough and even. The final was disputed between English Wolverhampton Wanderers and Brazilian Cruzeiro EC.

Something that gave me shivers was when 46 000 people played the ”human” Guitar Hero. The feeling for rythm and timing you all showed must of been something unique. What an experience!

It also felt great to enter our new finals arena Gamla Ullevi, this place really offers you the feeling of a pro-game. On top of that, the Swedish sports channel Viasat broadcasted the finals the same way they do with Champions League. Well, Gothia is actually the World Youth Cup so you really deserve that.

The most important for us is to arrange a tournament that participants are satisfied with. According to the survey that the teams answered after the tournament, we have succeeded really well. We got the best report for the opening ceremony and the great service the officials give.

You can also click here.

The Gothia Cup 2010 is on 18-24 july, 2010

You will be able to register to next year’s tournament through our website from september 10th 2009.

Age classes 2010:

Class B18 – Boys born 1st Jan. 1992 and later
Class B16 – Boys born 1st Jan. 1994 and later
Class B15 – Boys born 1st Jan. 1995 and later
Class B14 – Boys born 1st Jan. 1996 and later
Class B13 – Boys born 1st Jan. 1997 and later
Class B12 – Boys born 1st Jan. 1998 and later
Class B11 – Boys born 1st Jan. 1999 and later

Class G19 – Girls born 1st Jan. 1991 and later
Class G17 – Girls born 1st Jan. 1993 and later
Class G15 – Girls born 1st Jan. 1995 and later
Class G14 – Girls born 1st Jan. 1996 and later
Class G13 – Girls born 1st Jan. 1997 and later
Class G12 – Girls born 1st Jan. 1998 and later

31.000 players, 7.000 leaders and thousands of parents and friends visiting Gothenburg, turns Gothia Cup into an unbeatable meeting ground. In fact, it is the largest meeting ground for young people in the world. When the joy of winning and the disappointment of loosing fade, we know that it is the encounters with other youth that lasts.

One of the most memorable impressions from this year’s Opening Ceremony was when 51.000 people “played” Guitar Hero. What an amazing experience! The grand finale with “We are the champions” and magnificent fireworks was another high point. That certainly made the hair on the back of more than one spectator’s neck rise.

Also, it felt great to enter our new stadium for the finals, Gamla Ullevi, that really brought closeness to the game and true football spirit. On top of this, Viasat presented and broadcasted lots of games from Heden and all of the finals from Gamla Ullevi in an UEFA Champions League manner. And to be honest, Gothia Cup is The World Youth Cup, and you definitely deserve all the attention.

A big thank you to all the leaders, players, parents and staff, all of whom made this week possible. We hope to see all of you again next year!

Already before the game had started, people knew it would be a tough and physical game. And so it was. The first half of the game was a war of positions with several chances for score. Even though no goals were made. Speed and strong  attacks was the recipe of the second half, but now with goals. The team of surprises, Eskilstuna, took the lead by Emil Fritzell who headed the ball smoothly all the way into the net, 1-0. The team kept on fighting and in the 44^th minute number 19, Gabriel Alias, scored  the breath taking 2-0. Paris then pushes on and manages to score a goal with only a few minutes to go, but Eskilstuna keep the 2-1 lead and wins the final. This was a big day in Eskilstunas´  football history, especially when they actually managed to win the tournament in two different classes. Proudest of them all probably was the Wahlström family, who brought home two golden medals. One with the daughter Elin and one with the son Markus

Text: Julia Peric
Photo: Nils Jakobsson, Oscar Megnusson

In the first half the Brazilians show of the same fast, technical game that has been their trademark throughout the tournament. And shortly it pays off. After a corner the ball finds Gabriel at the edge of the box and with a low, hard shot he finds the net. After the goal Cruzeiro slows down a bit and lets Wolverhampton back into the game, and are punished for it. In a great offense James Spray finds Jack Price who storms though the Brazilian defense and rolls it past the goalkeeper for an equalizer. In the second half both teams continue to play with high energy and a great deal of tough duels and in the 70^th minute Wolves star-player Nathaniel Mendez Laing got handed his second yellow card and was sent off. The second half ends without a winner and a penalty shootout is needed to determine a winner. In the penalty shootout, the Wolverhampton goalkeeper saves his team with four brilliant saves and brings home the gold medal to the British Isles.

Man of the match: Marcos Vinicius Bonto, Cruzeiro

Text: Patrik Syk
Photo: Nils Jakobsson, Oscar Magnusson

B16: IF Elfsborg-Västerås SK, 2-1

Västerås is the team tha starts with the hihgest energy and shows proof of great passing skills. The first big scoringopportunity come after ten minutes on a header. But Christoffer Gatara in the Elfborg goal makes a huge save. After this Elfsborg reclaims more possession and with just three minutes to half time Adam Johansson of Elfsborg scores. The first half has some terrific sequences but its 1-0 to Elfsborg in half time. The second half starts like the first, with heavy possession for Västerås. And five minutes in Filip Tronét evens out the score. But once again Elfsborg manages to come back into the game, and once again they make the most of it. With a high shot from a bad angle Viktor Rottings shot slips in Daniel Svenssons gloves and it 2-1 to Elfsborg. Västerås continues to push forward but Elsborgs defense stays intact. IF Elfsborg wins two goals to one.

Man of the match: Christoffer Gatara

Text: Patrik Syk
Foto: Nils Jacobsson, Oscar Magnusson

Herforder SV – Eskilstuna United DFF, 1-2

In the G17-final German team Herforder SV took on the Swedes of Eskilstuna United. Both teams won their semi finals by penalty shootouts.

The game took of with a penalty shootout in the second minute when Maja Österholm of Eskiltuna fell by the feet of a German defenseman. Milia Lord then easily placed the ball in the net for a 0-1 lead. After the first goal a tight and exciting game followed. In the 30:th minute Felicia Karlsson is well positioned and takes Eskilstuna to an 0-2 advantage.

In the second half Herforder SV turned the pace up a notch and put some pressure on Eskilstuna, the hard work paid of and striker Rike Tolchmitt makes 1-2. Then Herforder SV tried to score an equalizer, but Eskilstuna played a magnificent defensive game and manage to win 1-2.

Most valuable player: Felicia Karlsson, Eskilstuna United

Congratulations Eskilstuna United DFF!

Text: Gustav Jakobsson

Picture: Nils Jakobsson, Oscar Magnusson

In the final game for Boys 15 Norwegian Florö SK played against Örgryte IS from Gothenburg. The Swedes took control of things quite early in the game and when Örgrytes no 10 Mathias Österlinf headed the ball inte the goal for a 1-0 lead it was more than fair. 2-0 came after a beautiful charge on the left side by ÖIS no 14, Joakim Olausson, that finally lead to a penalty kick after the Florö defender had to use force to stop the tenacious midfielder. The penalty kick was executed with precision by no 22 Felix Larsson. In the beginning of the second half the Norwegians found new strength and could score an early goal. In the heavy rain no seven of Florö, Kristoffer Sigdestad, could even the score out and out and the game had to be settled by a penalty shootout. Here The Örgryte players had the winning nerves and could claim the gold after victory with 7-4.

Man of the match, no 14 of Örgryte IS Joakim Olausson.

Text: Patrik Syk
Photo: Nils Jakobsson & Oscar Mangusson

The girls in Hammarby and Real So Cal played an equal game. None of the teams were especially dominate and it did not happen very much. Not even the great scorer, Kristiana Konkol-Mroczkowski, cracked the zero, 0-0 stood still until the pause.

The remaining 30 minutes  of the game, the teams gave more energy, created more chances and gained speed. A shot from the left side was the closest chance Hammarby got, but even then the talented goalkeeper, Madeleine Clarfield, did her duty well. Also the Hammarby goalie, Nikolina Stankovic, did a good job. But in the end not even Nikolina could defend herself against the American strikers. In the 47th minute Reals´ Anna Dertouzos made a sailing 0-1 goal. After a lightly touch on the goalkeepers fingers the ball scored and Real So Cal won the game.

Man of the match: Anna Dertouzos

Text: Julia Peric
Photo: Nils Jakobsson

Zambian team Chiparamba was favourites when playing Georgian 35 Football School in the B14-finals. Chiparamba started the game a bit too aggressive, and got two yellow cards early on. Coaches Nowell Phiri, Moses Banda and Mubanga Tembo then calmed the team down, and they showed their supreme speed and technique.

1-0 came fairly expected in the 16:th minute, when Robert Mwale got his head on a long ball from the left side of the field. Chiparamba then continued to control the game, but 35 Football School fought for every inch of the field and managed to keep the numbers down.

In the second half the pressure from Chiparamba became even greater, and in the 29:th minute James Chilujya scored 2-0 for Chiparamba. Then Henry Zulu scored 3-0 before Friday Samu with a late goal set the final score to 4-0.

Man of the match: Robert Mwale, Chiparamba Great Eagles.

Congratulations Chiparamba Great Eagles!

In the class G14, Bele Barkaby IF played against Finnish PK -35. This is the 4th time a Finnish team plays in the in finals during the 2000th century. The teams who have reached the finals have always been girls in the class 13 or 14, and in usual order it was G14 who had reached this far in the tournament again. But one challenge were left, they had never won the finals.

The match started as a tough morning game whit slow running feet in both teams. Bele Barkaby got first to find the right shape. The strong Bele Barkaby player Ellinor Sjöblom worked her way trough the Finnish defence and, alone with the goalkeeper, scored 1-0 just before the half time pause.

The game went all the way to the 39th minute before PK -35 reduced the numbers to 1-1. After that the game went dangerous with many chances to score for both teams, but the goalkeepers did a great job and held the stabile and equal until the end of the game. After a exiting penalty shooting the girls in PK -35 finally won with 4-6. Congratulation the 14 year old girls who finally brought the gold to Finland.

Man of the match: Melinda Koivula, PK -35

Text: Julia Peric
Photo: Nils Jakobsson

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Real Malmö FC started the game with a cannon of goals. It didn’t take many minutes until the 1-0 rumbled the net via Albian Kryezius right foot. In less minutes than there is to count on one hand, Albian scored 2-0. This was also his 12th goal in the tournament. Even though Malmö got a good start the players in Lärje/Angered didn’t give up. Instead they worked their way up by a quick and fighting defence. Isak Sewkembo gave Lärje/Angered new energy when he scored 2-1 that also was the half time result.

Denis Osmanovic started the second half by fighting as an animal on the field. But he didn’t fight alone. Also Gabriel Oaris and Marko Marinhovic made a good effort. Even though, Lärje/Angered did have a rough time keeping their defence clean when Malmö:s Sebastian Ramhorn dribbled his way trough the penalty box. In the 48:e match minute the unexpected happened, a free kick from the right side comes back in return right in front of Isak Sewankembo who scores 2-2. It was time for a shivering penalty shoot out. Lärje/Angered, goal. Malmö, goal. Lärje/Angered two goal, Malmö, post out. Lärje/Angered, goal. Malmö miss when the goal keeper Kaka Abdulla. Finally Lärje/Angered wins by scoring the last and definitive goal, 3-6. Congratulations guys.

Boo FF – Lindö FF Norrköping, 4-7

The game started somewhat trembling but soon Lindö FF took control and Hanna Ählman, scored the first goal for Lindö FF after 4 minutes. Seven minutes later Klara Fridh scored 2-0, after striking a long ball that bounced somewhat unlucky at the feet of Boo keeper Linnea Björkman. 2-0 then stood as the half time result.

In the second half Boo pushed forward and took control of the match, but Lindö FF played a great defensive game and did not leave the Boo-strikers any space. But in minute 35 Boo-striker Sara Dierks notice that Lindö-keeper Stina Andersson is out of position and makes a beautiful lob for 2-1. Then Boo gave everything they had, and in the very last minute Sara Richter makes 2-2. The result stood until full time and the game had to be decided in a shoot-out.

There, Lindö FF-player Madicken Andersson scored the winning goal.

Congratulations Lindö FF -Norrköping!  

G19: Karlskrona FF – Tölö IF, 1-2

The girls in the class G19 showed the audience two focused teams. A sneaky game from the start with well planned passing. In the 10th minute Tölö took the lead by Kristin Svensson, who also is the teams´ best scorer, this tournament (7 goals). It didn’t take long until Karlkronas´ Amanda Ilestedt reduced the numbers to 1-1. Tölö had a hold on Karlskrona the whole first half of the game. This thanks to a smart passing that kept on bringing the ball to the offensive part of the field. Half time result, 1-1.

Tölö kept on dominating the ball even the next 30 minutes With 15 minutes left of the game they take the lead ones again, and make 1-2 on a return in the penalty box. In the end of the game both teams lost energy and the victory went to Tölö IF.

Kampala Kids League – IK Franke, 4-3

Kampala Kids League and IF Franke have both played entertaining games during the group stage, so the expectations were trough the roof on the final. And no one was left disappointed. After only two minutes Kampala Kids League scored the first goal, this time by top scorer Ibrahim Mpanga. But IK Franke answered right back with a goal by Almir Zekiri.

It was a game of offensive and beautiful football. IF Franke struggled greatly with the agile strikers of Kampala Kids League, but Franke-keeper Jonathan Jonsson was a true miracle worker, and kept the team in the game.

In the 16:th minute Ibrahim Mpanga did 2-1. Again IK Franke answered right back, this time with a goal by Abdulahi Mohamed. But they were still one down after the first half, because of an unlucky ball in their own net.

In the second half the game slowed down a bit. But then in the 41:th minute, Ibrahim Mpanga again showed his supreme skill and scored 4-2. It looked like the game was lost for IK Franke, but they kept fighting and in the 46:th minute Abdulahi Mohamed scored 4-3.

But that was as close as IK Franke got, Kampala Kids League kept their lead and fairly won with 4-3.

Congratulations to Kampala Kids League and Uganda!

B11: AIK FF 1 – Brommapojkarna, 1-2

The B11-final started with a true fighting spirit and fast feet in both teams. AIK:s striker Christos Gravius put pressure early in the game by giving AIK the lead numbers 1-0. Brommapojkarna did many good attempts to create oppertunities by slim playing and speed. The AIK:s defender played with good effectively and made the lead stand tall until half time.

In the second half AIK turnes the game around. A free kick ends up far outside the goal. The minute after Besard Sabovic scores 1-1 for Brommapojkarna. The goal stressed the AIK-guys who made some technical mistakes, but kept on striking for goal. But the goalkeeper Marcus Holm was too good.   

With two minutes left of the game, Brommapojkarna shoots a free kick that flies over half the field and lands in front of Alberto Catenacci. Cantenacci scores a close up 1-2 and make Brommapojkarna the winners of 2009 years Gothia Cup.

G12: Enskede IK – Bollstanäs SK, 0-5

The first of the finals is over at Gamla Ullevi. Bollstanäs SK took on Enskede IK in the G12-group, and after a great battle Bollstanäs SK won with 5-0.

Bollstanäs SK started in out in a furious tempo and after only 6 minutes midfielder Alexandra Sundqvist scored the first goal.

Enskede tried their best to fend of the attacks, and managed to keep 1-0 to the half time break. But Bollstanäs were bigger and stronger on every position, and in the second half Enskede just got too tired. Bollstanäs Emma Bählander dominated the midfield completely and did 2-0 by herself. Then Julia Zigiotti Olme did 3-0 and the game was practically over. The game ended with a 5-0 victory (4-0 Sabina Lundström and 5-0 Emma Bählander) for Bollstanäs SK.

Congratulations Bollstanäs SK!

The game started somewhat trembling but soon Lindö FF took control and Hanna Ählman, scored the first goal for Lindö FF after 4 minutes. Seven minutes later Klara Fridh scored 2-0, after striking a long ball that bounced somewhat unlucky at the feet of Boo FF-keeper Linnea Björkman. 2-0 then stood as the half time result.

In the second half Boo pushed forward and took control of the match, but Lindö FF played a great defensive game and did not leave the Boo-strikers any space. But in minute 35 Boo-striker Sara Dierks notice that Lindö-keeper Stina Andersson is out of position and makes a beautiful lob for 2-1. Then Boo gave everything they had, and in the very last minute Sara Richter makes 2-2. The result stood until full time and the game had to be decided in a shoot-out. There, Lindö FF-player Madicken Andersson scored the winning goal.

Congratulations Lindö FF -Norrköping!  

The whole B14-team from Brazilian Pequeninos de Jockey are standing in the GB GLACE tent. Two at the time they stand in front of the camera sending greetings to their love ones at home. The guys talk and wave to the camera for 15 seconds. Just a moment later the video is on the GB GLACE website available for parents and friends to see and hear their kids.
- I said hello to my mother and my sister, says Renan Hiroshi Asato. My mother and sister will watch the website and I think my sister will tell me I was fun.

When all the guys have been filmed two and two, the whole team gathers and sings a song they always sing before a game. Together they get filled with energy and on the camera screen there is no doubt about that everyone home in Brazil will smile when they see it on the website. GB On Air is an suitable part of the Gothia Cup for the guys in Pequeninos de Jockey. All together they are travelling for 42 days, playing five different football tournaments.
- I said to my family that I am fine, that I miss them and sent them many kisses. I think they will be very happy when they see it, says Leonardo Baldy de Sousa Boni.

So far more than 700 players have recorded greetings at GB GLACE On Air. Some 12 years old guys from Swedish Näsets SK have stepped into the tent to be famous for 15 seconds.
- It is fun to be on the GB GLACE website. I was a little bit nervous in front of the camera, but I wanted to try it anyway, Says Nils Carnbäck.
- And it is really good that GB GLACE is here, because then you can buy a lot of ice-cream, Daim is the best ice-cream! Linus Warsell ends.

http://www.gbonair.se/2009/07/pequeninos-do-jockey/

Text: Julia Peric
Foto: Carl Sandin och Julia Peric

Friday and Saturday are final days in Gothia Cup. The A-finals start 12.00 at the new arena, Gamla Ullevi. The special class B17 play their semi finals the same evening, and their finals at Saturday. Directly after every game there will be an award ceremony and awards will be delivered to the winners and the runner up.

Friday 17:e                            Saturday 18:e  �
12.00      G12                           08.30    G14
13.15      B11                           09.45    B14
14.30      B12                           11.00    G15
15.45      G19                           12.25    B15
17.00      G13                          13.45    G17
18.15      B13                           15.05    B16
19.30      Semifinal B17            16.20    B17
20.50      Semifinal B17            17.45    B18

Gothia B-finals at Heden

The B-finals will be played at Saturday, at Heden 3, Heden 4 and Heden 5. The award ceremony will be held directly after the game is finished, on the stage at Gothia Heden Center.

             Heden 3                  Heden 4                    Heden 5
08.00       G14                       B13                             09.00      G12         �
09.15        G17                      G13                             10.15      B12
10.30        B16                      G15                             11.30      B11
11.45        G19                      B15
13.00        B18                      B14

�
Price: Adult 100:-   Child: 50:-
Free entrence with Gothia Card

The artists Magnus Bäcklund and Adriana Popovac are creating the party atmosphere with their rock n´ roll music. Robert, also called “Mr. Hollywood”, is climbing down from the bench laughing. Before he has the chance to react, he is beaten to it by Anna who jumps up on the bench and shakes it about like no other. Even though she isn’t dancing on the table she wins, both the glory and the cheering, thanks to her brave performance among her friends.�
- It’s amazing the fun we have here, says Elisabeth and laughs both at and with her excited friends.

Elisabeth is the coach for the US Atlantic Strikers (USA) 12 years old boys. It is her first time at Gothia Cups Leaders Party, and both the Party and the tournament have made a strong impression.
- I played football myself for 18 years and now I have been coaching for four years. It is incredible  how this tournament brings so many young players together.

The Leaders Party isn’t only about dance, food and music but also a ceremony that every year honours some chosen leaders for their engagement in youth football. Two leaders are invited onstage to walk into the Hall of Fame.  Patricia Espinosa, agent from Mexico, and Dante Mandriotti Castro, from AD Cantolao in Peru, are the chosen ones. Both have for over 20 years helped youngsters to participate in football tournaments.  They have enabled thousands of young people participate in the Gothia Cup. In summary, a wonderful evening of entertainment that also allowed  two special people to be honoured.

 We hope you all a great time!

Text: Julia Peric
Photo: Carl Sandin

− This is great! I have not had my teeth examined for over a year, and then I was in Thailand. So it’s really about time that I did it again.

− We have been here for six years straight, says 58-years old dental nurse Eva Karlsson while Jonna gets examined. It feels good to be able to do something extra for the players. We can fix almost any problem here, this bus is fully equipped.

So far it’s been quite a smooth sail for the staff. A couple of lost fillings, some cases of toothache and a few broken braces are the cases so far today.

− Actually there have mostly been leaders and Gothia staff here, says Eva Karlsson. We invited a team from Kongo-Brazzaville because we know they are here for the first time. Only one of the boys had visited a dentist before. That time he had to pull out a tooth without anaesthetic, so he was kind of nervous. All guys in the team have beautiful teeth. We have also been visited by Brazilians, Moroccans and Americans.

The dental care is available between 09.00-16.00, until Saturday.

Text and photo: Gustav Jakobsson

The game is sure to be a real struggle; players like Brazilian Paulinho of BK Häcken will measure his strength against Hammarbys heavy defenseman Cristian Traoré. And two great keepers stand against each other, Kristoffer Källqvist of BK Häcken versus former Swedish national team keeper Rami Shaaban.
The club BK Häcken is located on Hisingen and known for two things; their spectacular players and Gothia Cup. Since 1981, BK Häcken alone arranges the world’s biggest football tournament, something that has the club well known not only in Sweden but also in the entire world.
The match starts at 20:00, and takes place at Nya Ullevi (the same arena that had the opening ceremony). If you have a Gothia-card you are welcome to stand L,M,Ö or Ä.

Welcome! ]]> http://www.gothiacup.se/eng/index.php/2009/07/biggametonight/feed/ 0 http://www.gothiacup.se/eng/index.php/2009/07/pictures-from-the-opening-ceremony/ http://www.gothiacup.se/eng/index.php/2009/07/pictures-from-the-opening-ceremony/#comments Wed, 15 Jul 2009 17:20:26 +0000 admin http://www.gothiacup.se/eng/?p=1030 Here are some new pictures from the breathtaking Opening Ceremony for all of you who were there and you who couldn’t make it. Lots of happy faces and a spectacular show.

Photo:
Nils Jakobsson, Bildbyrån
Peter Magnusson, Bildbyrån

This is nothing for those who are afraid to get wet. At the Foam Party a waterfall of bubbles are pouring down from the sealing. At the same time some Swedish girls are jumping with the hands in the air to the beat of “Jump”.
- We went directly to the centre of the dance floor and made somersaults and swam in the bubbles, says Moa Fins.

The friends Frida Linden, Tonia Brunnberg, Linn Storesund, (Moa), Cecilia Törnros, Matilda Lehvus are soaked but continue to jump and throw bubbles at each other. The Brasilian guy William Bozatti is moonwalking in front of the DJ: s stage. Some girls are buying water, energy drinks and soda in the beverage lounge. One boy is the tallest on the dancefloor. He´s clowning around with bubbles all over his face and laughs at his new white beard. The party is on!

Text: Julia Peric
Photo: Carl Sandin

- We were out on a walk when we spotted this African team, tells 16-years old midfielder Emelie Holmes. They were warming up, and didn’t even have any shin pads. So we simply decided to give the football-kit to them.

The team Emelie and her teammates saw warming up was KYOC, a team from Kisumu, Kenya. KYOC are a part of Meet The World, a project run by Gothia Cup and SKF. The girls of KYOC all grew up under harsh and poor conditions, now they live on the same orphanage as a part of the Meet The World project. KYOC qualified for Gothia Cup by winning an tournament in Kenya, SKF sponsored the team with plane tickets to Gothenburg.

The ceremony itself was conducted at Hvitfeldtska Gymnasiet on Tuesday. Semiahmoo and KYOC, two teams from opposite part of the world sat down together on the stairs. Then Bruno Hoffman, head coach for Semiahmoo proudly told the story about how the girls worked to be able to hand over these gifts. Then he ordered his players to match up with the Kenyans and hand over the kit. 

- Our goal is that you wear this gear when we come and play you in Africa, said Hoffman.

- We didn’t know anything about this, said KYOC:s 15-years old striker Pauline as she was looking through the bag containing her new football-kit. Gothia Cup is fantastic, I have learnt so much, and met so many new friends. And I would really like to thank the Canadian team for this gift!

Then the KYOC thanked Semiamhoo by teaching them some traditional African dancing and singing. The Canadians were a bit shy at first, but after a few minutes they got caught in the spirit.

Text: Gustav Jakobsson

Pictures: Karl Sandin

http://viasatondemand.com/

Games broadcasted today:

12:00 G17, KYOC-Girls (KEN) – Elverum Fotball (NOR)

13:00 B17, Cruzeiro EC (BRA) – Halmstad BK (SWE)

14:10 B16, Cruz Azul Seminoario (MEX) – Dallas Texans (USA)

15:40 B17, Crystal Palace (ENG) – AIK (SWE)

16:50 B17, Cruz Azul Seminoario (MEX) – Kalmar FF (SWE)

Club Gothia:
Wednesday – Saturday, 19.00 – 00.00

Foam Party:
Wednesday – Friday, 19.00 – 00.00

Text: Julia Peric
Foto: Carl Sandin

Expectant smiles on decorated faces from the red-yellow-black Germans on the top of the grandstand all the way down to the green Brazilians in the front arena stalls. Their expectations were fulfilled explosively when the song “I Kissed A Girl” rocked the stage away. Pictures flashed by on a gigantic TV screen and showed famous figures from the football world celebrating and embracing. The football party was going and Johan Boding gave the audience a question to think about during the show. What is the Gothia Cup?

Time for the next 16 nations to enter the arena. Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, Iceland, India, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, FYR Macedonia, Malaysia, Marocko. The Opening Ceremony changed when the march was over. A moment of silence past away in no time when the tones of “Thriller” started to beat from the stereo loudspeaker. The musical tribute to the king of pop was performed by 400 dancers. All wearing black and white clothes, hat and a single glove, dancing to the classic moves of Michael Jackson.

One gang of football players had waited long enough. It was time to enter the green stage of grass. Congo, Kenya, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia. Even though players, leaders, parents and friends from 63 countries gathered at the stadium without understanding each others languages, it didn’t prevent the atmosphere at the stadium. The Opening Ceremony talked the language everybody understands, singing and dancing. The field turned black when the referees were honoured with their own parade and referee song.

Mimmi Sandén made the audience go crazy by performing the great song “Hero”. Afterwards it was finally time for Mexico, Moldavia, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Rumania, Russia, Scotland, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and Venezuela. Accept musik there was also a competition. The competition was in Guitar Hero and broke world record when 52,000 stood up and waved with their coloured plastic flags at the same time.

There were even more high quality music. The successful pop-soul singer Agnes Carlsson, also winner of the Swedish Idol, sang her hit song ”Release Me”. The evening continued with the song “Thank You For loving Me” to honour all the parents for their invaluable participating in their kid’s life. Back to what Gothia Cup I all about. Six young players swore an oath on Arabic, French, German, Spanish, Swedish and English. In front of the eyes of football representatives from all over the world, the swore to always respect each other.

Five nations were left. The nations with the largest numbers of participants, England, USA, Norway, Germany. And finally with an ocean of applause, to the tones of “Final Countdown” and “Mamma Mia” – Sweden! A gigantic Swedish flag was folded up and floated in the air over the green field. The best way to finish a party like this is of course to answer the question that everybody, after this show, has their own answer to. What is Gothia Cup? Gothia Cup is champions, all the champions who participate just by being here. ”We Are The Champions” will never be better than when 52,000 real fighters sang it together and finished by screaming out their joy to a fantastic show of fireworks. Girls and boys, make shore you have your best week of your life here with us at Gothia Cup!

Text: Julia Peric
Photo: Carl Sandin

Chris Mboma, 19, Boulogne, France
- Samuel Eto´o. He is the best African player in the world. A good striker who does many goals. Sofi Sydvik, 12, Azalea BK, Sweden
- Marta Vieira da Silva becuase she is a woman and a role model to me. She feint and play well.

Matthieu Pironnet, 17, Boulogne, France
- Fernando Torres. Because he is a Spanish striker with a great technique. Antonio Akyuz, 11, IFK Göteborg, Sweden
- Messi! He is fast, technical and a nice player. I would like to have the same speed as he has. Zlatan Ibrahimovic comes on second place because he is big, strong and shoots hard.

Text and photo: Julia Peric

It´s the last rehearsal before tonight and full throttle at the arena. One of the girls on the stage is 21 years old, and has played striker in Wargöns IK, Sweden, her name is Agnes Carlsson. And one more small thing, 2005 she won the Swedish Tv show Idol and since then she has toured Europe as a successful pop and soul singer. But she has never performed at Gothia Cup before.
– When I first arrived, I was chocked. I thought that I should sing by a football field but when I got here I understood I was going to sing at Ullevi, and how big this occasion is. I feel really honoured, says a happy Agnes Carlsson.

Agnes started to play football when she was 14 years old and played for two years. Even if her football career wasn’t too long she did score some goals.
– I remember once when I played a game. The whole family came to see me play and I was really jittery. That game I scored three goals and I was so happy! says Agnes.

On and around the stage there are singers and dancers everywhere. It is all about timing each other and the music right, something that Agnes sees as a similarity with the football.
– You get a lot of energy from your team mates when you do things together. Teamwork is the main thing, says Agnes and points at the same rules for both the stage and the field.
– When you score or when you succeed on a concert, you just feel a big Yes! It is important to find something that you are good at and that you can enjoy.

Agnes arrived directly to the rehearsal from a tour in Wales and Denmark. She has only rehearsed two times with the Opening Ceremony ensemble but she does not feel any nervousness. Tonight she will be surrounded by 400 glittering singers and dancers and as before any big game it is all about preparations.
– When I played I always had to play with number 2 on my shirt but now I think that the best way to prepare is to take a deep breath and to make sure you have fun.

At tonight’s magnificent show we will be a part of the fun with the Agnes and all of the singers and dancers. The Opening Ceremony is very much about joy and playfulness, but it also tries to answer one important question that probably has the same amount of answers as there are participants. What is Gothia Cup?
– I have played football myself, never in Gothia Cup, but I have been visiting games and the disco. For me Gothia Cup will always stand for fun, Agnes finishes.

Text and photo: Julia Peric

	Hanna Gustavsson, 12, Azalea BK, Sweden - That we will go to the B-finals. This is the first time we will meet teams from other countries. In the group stage we meet a team from USA and that is exciting.
Johnny Kumander, 11, IFK Göteborg, Sweden - That we will have a good time and I hope that we make it through the group stage. We will play against a lot of competitors we never met before, like Athens 90, Greece, and Azalea, Sweden.
	Embla Starke Sundén, 12, Azalea BK, Sweden - That it will be a fun experience. It is exiting to be a part of a tournament as big as this is. It feels new to play against teams from other nations.
Csaba Somfai, 68, Hall of Fame member, Kölcsey F. Gimnazium, Hungary - It is a great experience for both the students and us leaders. The atmosphere is spectacular, there are so many youngsters. Both pleasure and sadness will be expressed and we will handle the situation either we win or loose.
	Lorena Bonilla, 12, Azalea BK, Sweden - Club Gothia! Everybody talks about it. The music and how fun it will be to to dance.
Sebastian Hylén, 11, IFK Göteborg, Sweden - I look forward to play the games. We have trained very hard and have big expectations to go far in the tournament.

Text and photo: Julia Peric

A couple of you boys from the team IK Kongahälla is standing in a group outside one of the age-control stations. They are waiting for some of their friends to be cleared. Even though 34 000 players are to be registered there is still an even flow of people and relatively shorts lines.
- It was almost no line at all, says one of the boys.

It is the second time around for these young lads, but the first time as an eleven-side. And this year they hope for better results than last time. That year they were eliminated in the 1/32 final, but this year they have a new coach and claim to have improved allot. But there is more than just football that attracts these young boys this week.
- The disco! They shuot with one voice. That is quite obvious, one of them ads.
- And we have to go to the foam party to, another one fills in.

With some cloudy rainy day behind us the sun has finally found its way to Gothenburg, right in time for the Gothia Cup and outside of the information centre people are patiently waiting for their turn by the registration desk. A smooth flow of people and relatively short waiting might give a few extra minutes to check out the Heden centre just a hundred meters away.

GOTHIA CUP FACTS 2009

Participating teams:                                                                            1 561

Number of participants:                                                                    34 200

Numbers of visitors total.: */                                                          59 200

Tourist nights in total.: */                                                                 358 200

Average age:                                                                                          15,5

Boys/girls:                                                                                               71/29 %

Nations:                                                                                                   63

Nations in total since 1975:                                                             129

Football fields :                                                                                    110

Number of games in total:                                                              4 520

Number of goals scored 2008:                                                       20 923

Partners:                                                                                                 SKF, Eon, GB Glace, Tele2

Money spent in Göteborg: */                                                         320 million SEK (30 million Euro).

Tax profit for Sweden: */                                                                 138 million SEK (13 million Euro).

Spectators at the opening ceremony 2008:                              51 130

Spectators at the finals 2008:                                                         23 962

Spectators at Heden, 5 days.: */                                                   295 000

Percentage of satisfyed visitors: */                                             99,2 %

TV-broadcasts 2008:                                                                           12 länder

Articles Swedish press 2008:                                                          1 112

Registered journalists:                                                                     108 (from 33 countries)

*/ source: the Swedish tourist office

The Gothia Cup press team wishes you a great Gothia Cup week!

And for all the fans outside of Sweden all the broadcasts will be able to purchase from the website Viasat on demand for you to watch on your computer. More information about this will be published here shortly.

We start sell on Sunday at 08.00. Please be there in time since this very popular card creates long ques later on in the day.

In this years collection you find the regular t-shirt, but also hoods, piquets, function tees, sleevless tees and sweatpants.

As usulaI you will find the Gothia Cup Collection in the Intersport tent at Gothia Heden Center and Gothia Kviberg Center. In the sportshop you will beside the Gothia Cup collectioan find hundreds of other sport equipment.

Welcome!

Beyond this, we will also arrange Club Gothia Foam. A unique disco based on music and foam. Nothing for those who do not want to get wet! This disco is also in connection to Svenska Mässan and can take 1500 guests per evening and are arranged Tuesday-Friday.

Do not forget to look through your matches again changes may have occurred.

You can now find the match program for 2009 tournament at our website! You find it through the link below. Also, look at ”Match program” and see all the nations that are registered in Gothia Cup 2009.

We have also uploaded the menu, the participating list, Information Letter 3 and other important information on the My Team Info. So log on and read all the documents.

 Match program

Vote now and be a part of the Gothia Opening Ceremony 2009.

Fill in the form below to vote.

They also tell, with joy and great pride, about the progress in Brazzaville and the development over the last 6 years since the start in 2003. In three places in the capital, 6 days of the week, the football school is open for about 500 children. A Sports Centre have been built up in the district Mfilou with a clubhouse and playing fields. A systematic job has been made to teach the children good values by teen important guidelines. These cannot be missed whether you are a part of the football school, a parent, a neighbour or a temporary visitor. They are, in fact, carved in to the walls around the school. Together with normal football practice the guidelines are a natural part of the children’s training.

You can tell that the children develop, both on the football field and as human beings. Rumours about the ”Gothia spirit” are spreading. There is something special about it and it can be summarized in the three words that the children all wear on a bracelet: Joy, Friendship and Fair Play. CF Gothia has become a positive example for building friendship and peace in a country marked by war and conflicts.

The teen guidelines

Now, it has also developed a club from the Football School that for the first time is participating in the Congolese league, Division 3. When it’s a match plenty of the children from the football school is attending, cheering and dreaming of once themselves play in the club.

This summer, for the first time, a team from the football school in Brazzaville will visit Sweden and attend at Gothia Cup. One of the 14-year olds who are in the squad, named Amour, is a profile on the team and the team captain.
- I love football and I want to love my fellow citizens, he says. Here at Gothia, we learn very good things and we get many new friends.
How do you feel about the journey to Sweden?
- Oh, it’s exciting, it is the first time we come to Europe and participate in Gothia Cup but we have prepared ourselves well. First, we have studied English and the volunteers have taught us a lot about Sweden. But above all, we have trained a lot so we hope that we can take the trophy home to Congo.

For several years the various SMU-associations, camps and churches committed to the football school in Brazzaville by donating money and collecting materials.

This summer in week 29, it will be possible to follow our team in Gothenburg when they face other teams in the world’s largest youth tournament in football, Gothia Cup.

Tomas Hammar

The team is one of the most successful in Brazil and last year they ended up on third place in the Brazilian league. Cruzeiro’s youth teams are some of Brazil’s most successful teams and they are always fighting for the big titles.Cruzeiro’s first match was played at Heden 4 against Kullavägens BK, Sweden, and finished 8-0 to the team from Brazil. More than 800 spectators watched that match. The following day 4000 people attended at the match were Cruzeiro won over the great team from Peru, AD Cantolao, with 3-0. The way to the final also included a 5-0 victory against last year’s winner Kampala Kids League from Uganda in  round of 32. The finals at Ullevi were seen by the total of 18,000 people. A new chapter in Gothia Cup history was written and many of the players in the team are predicted future professionals.

Cruzeiro against Kampala Kids

This summer, you can again see Cruzeiro in Gothia Cup. The team will participate in the new super class for specially invited teams, Boys 17. They will play against teams as Cruz Azul, Crystal Palace, Wolverhampton, 12 teams from the Swedish Allsvenskan etc.

After last year’s success Cruzeiro is one of the favourites but this year they will meet even stronger teams. So prepare yourself for tough games when the world’s future professional plays at Gothia Cup 2009.

Both semi finals and finals for B17 are played in at Gamla Ullevi. Be sure to be on time (see ”Gothia Finals”). Gamla Ullevi only takes 18,000 spectators.

This month’s newsletter partly includes the following:

Registration deadline has pasted!
We are very pleased to welcome the 1602 participating teams from 62 nations, that have registered for this year’s Gothia Cup, to Gothenburg.

The Opening Ceremony – an evening to remember
Monday July 13, in front of 50,000 spectators in Ullevi, the participants will be welcomed to Gothia Cup with a colourful show.

Meet the World in 2009
Meet The World is a project run by Gothia Cup together with SKF.

Partner of the month – GB Glace
To the delight of the participants GB Glace has for many years delivered their great ice cream products to Gothia Cup.

You can read the newsletter here.

”Ice cream is a product that is associated with joy. It is therefore important for us to be in an arrangement as Gothia Cup in which 35 000 young people gather to be active and have fun together. ”

It has been an intense month with the celebration of the international women’s day, lots of new kids, the clubs first league game, a Kinshasa visit for the visa applications ect. In the mids of all this, Sara and I did an incredible journey up to the northern Congo were we visited a pygmy village in the rainforest. It is not all that bad being a soccervolunteer!

On March the 5th we arranged a soccer tournament for girls at a school located near Mfilou. It was a huge success and a lot of girls attended. After the tournament we informed them about Gothia and our activities. The result of this was that over 200 girls attended Gothia on the international women’s day and that Sara the week after had over 30 new girls signing up for practise, fantastic! It is not always easy to be a soccer playing girl here in Congo and the reluctance towards girls playing is big. We are working towards reducing the prejudices and supporting the girls that wants to play. We have also started volleyball activities that are very popular among both girls and boys.

Our club team is making great progress. The league started this month and they won their first game. So that was a good start for them and now we’re looking forward to follow the club and see if they will manage to be in the top of the league during the season.

On March the 25th our leader principal, Mouck and Sara went over to Kinshasa to meet the embassy and apply for 20 visas for the group that is coming to Sweden this summer. It has been a lot of work to get all of the passports ready and to do all the visa applications. But all of that is done by now, so now we can just wait for the answer. Me and Sara are preparing the boys as good as possible for their big journey and we have lessons with them in swedish culure once a week. Then we’re talking about Sweden, showing them pictures, learning them Swedish, playing games, information’s about the food, Gothia and so on. The boys are really excited and want to learn as much as possible. The trip still seems to be a bit like a dream, but now when we’re approaching the departure, we start to understand that it is for real.

Sara and I will now enjoy our short time that is left here in Congo as much as possible. There’s an intense summer waiting for us back home in Sweden, that’s going to end up with the visit of the team and Gothia cup!

We wish you all the best, from a sunny and warm Congo!

The soccer volonteers, through Sofia

Recently ended the first Meet The World tournament. The tournament was played in Kisumu, Kenya. The girls team, Kisumu Youth Olympic Centre (KYOC) won all their matches and were the lucky winners of the tournament. The cheers of joy that erupted when the team received the information that they would travel to Sweden in July were overwhelming and you can still hear it at the football centre.
”This is a dream that never happened before, not even any of the boys teams here have had the opportunity to travel outside West Africa”, erupted one of the spectators.

We wish KYOC warmly welcome to Göteborg and Gothia Cup in 2009 and we wish the team great success in the tournament.
Do you want to know more about the tournament in Kenya and the other Meet The World tournaments, please visit the following link:  Meet The World

Something that you might have missed is that all the Gothia Cup finals and finals of the class B17 will be played at the new stadium.
”The new stadium gives us the opportunity to do an even better final arrangement. You will be able to experience the game closer up and really take part of the entertaining football that young people from all over the world have to offer” says Tournament Leader Lena Rönnefors.

This weekend the first match was played at the newly built Gamla Ullevi Stadium and it became a football feast in a crowded arena. Count on the same thing when the world’s best youth teams will fight for victory in the Gothia World Youth Cup on July 17-18.

The following countries are registered for 2009:

Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Bosnia& Herzegovina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Denmark, England, Estonia, F.Y.R. Macedonia, Philippines, Finland, United Arab Emirates, France, Georgia, Greece, India, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Congo, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Malaysia, Morocco, Mexico, Moldavia, North Ireland,  Norway, Austria, Pakistan, Peru, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Switzerland, Serbia, Singapore, Scotland, Sydafrika, Spain, Sweden, Tanzania, Czech Republic, Tunisia, Turkey, Germany, Uganda, Ukraine, Hungary, USA, Venezuela ,Wales, Zambia

In 2007 it was time for Gothia Cup again.
- In 2007, we were put on a waiting list because there were no spaces in our age class (G13). We then decided to participate in a one year older age class G14. We won the whole group on full points! We thought the girls were fantastic.

Askims IK’s G15 have a true fighting spirit. On their website you can follow all their victories in cups and in the serial game in the year 2008. Gothia Cup last summer would not be any exception.
- In 2008 we played in our own age group, G14, in Gothia Cup. We set a high goal ”Ullevi grass” and we made it! It was incredibly exciting when we both in the round of 16 and the semi final won on penalties. In the semis it was against Benson Soccer from USA.
It was so much fun! Valhalla IP was on fire! What memories that tournament gave. Unbelievable!

It is amazing to see Agneta´s joy and commitment in the team and it seems to permeate throughout the whole Askims IK G15. ”We are a happy bunch of girls who like to fight together at matches and trainings” is the starting text about the team at their website. They also request other girls to test play with the team, maybe a good idea to experience a final match in Gothia Cup 2009?

- Yes we are going for it again in Gothia Cup 2009 in the G15. We hope of course that we will be as good or even better than last year. We focus on the new final arena Gamla Ullevi! says Agneta.
The answer to how to get there is simple.
- We train hard and have fun, there are no other ways.

We welcome Askims IK G15 at the Gothia Cup in 2009 and wish them good luck in Spain!

We have a series of articles about teams that registered for Gothia Cup 2009. Do you want us to write about your team? Do you have a special story that you think we should tell? Then write to us at info@gothiacup.se

The two new artificial grass playing fields in Heden complement the 4 already existing playing fields. This means that you will be able to choose between 6 matches at the same time at Heden this summer.

- Artificial grass is an important development to Gothia Cup because it raises the quality and guarantees matches regardless of the weather. Quality is one of our main values says Lena Rönnefors, and something we are always striving towards. It also gives us a sense of security and a guarantee in case the Swedish weather doesn’t live up to our expectations. 

//Gothia Cup

This is the year we got the audience back at Heden! It hasn’t been like this since Tauchichi’s brilliance days. Most of the attention was directed to the B16 class with many exciting teams from Mexico, Brazil, Uganda and Zambia. Cruzeiro EC (B16) from Brazil and Liberty Professionals (B18) were perhaps the most popular. These games were heaven for talent scouts. Something magic happens at Heden when the fields and surroundings are teeming with activity, this is what Gothia Cup is all about.

The entire week we were able to follow these groups with excitement and the results could be witnessed at the finals, were big crowds gathered to see them. Over 20 000 spectators saw the final duell between IF Elfsborg and Liberty Professionals in the B18 class.

At this year’s Leaders Party at Scandinavium arena, two new faithful members were chosen to be part of the coveted Gothia Cup Hall of Fame. Csaba Somafi, Kölcsey F. Gimnasium from Hungary and Gerhard Becker, Friesen Hänigsen from Germany were the chosen ones.

Alan Sherer is voted the best Gothia Cup football player of all times. He is present and tells about his career and the days he played at Gothia Cup.

The Opening Ceremony means a lot for the delegates, but this year’s ceremony was a speciall one for two people. They met 15 years ago playing at Gothia Cup, the german player René and the swedish girl Anna. This year, with 50 000 spectators as witness, they were lawfully wedded in a spectacular but quiet packed stadium.

FIFA granted Gothia Cup the permission to be called ”The World Youth Cup”, this is very important for the marketing and also strengthens the position of our tournamet in the event industry. This expression is now registered as a Trade mark for the tournament.

Our fotball schools in Kongo Brazzaville and Thailand are keep going strong. We have now in Kongo over 500 kids in ages 9-16. The kids from the Thailand school came to play at Gothia Cup with Thamrong Thai FC. It is overwhelming to see these children here, from countries were nothing is taken for granted. We at Gothia Cup are very proud of the efforts we make in these two countries.

Close to 100 teams (for the third year in a row) from 64 nations (record number) met in 4500 matches. In splendid sun and without having one match moved. Also this a record.

The Opening Ceremony had gone through some logistical changes when 7000 seats weren’t accessible because of the preparations for the approaching European Athletic Championship. the solution had to be to place the same number of persons in the field instead. This solution was fairly satisfactory, but nothing that we will apply again.

The Leaders Party was carried out for the first time totally under personal management and the result was, without comparisons, the best so far. In total 3000 (normally 2300) guests showed up and this caused us slight problems but that could be solved in a perfect way.

It felt like some of the football playing had an improvement during the tournament this year. Not least the final days at times offered great entertainment. The final in G14 between Marmö FF and Hammarby IF must be classified the best girls match in the history of the tournament. On the boys side both Gothenburg clubs IFK Göteborg and BK Häcken were champions in the oldest boys categories. Best football was offered from Kampala Kids from Uganda. And a new team could ascend the throne for Best club of the year. After totally dominating during the last 10 years, V. Frölunda and Brommapojkarna had to leave the throne for Balfour Park FC from South Africa that received this prestigious prize.

Further Gothia Players Corner was inaugurated. A meeting place for all participants in ‘track suit’. The Star Bowling at Friggagatan had been rented for the whole week for this purpose. Approx. 1500 players amused themselves every afternoon and evening.

Liseberg finally introduced Gothia Super Ride Pass. For the amount of 335 SEK the participants had free rides during the whole week, that was very appreciated.

The record audience around Heden could enjoy the incredibly strong B16 category where the great world teams beat other world teams time after another.
Even the girl category G15 offered a lot of great football playing.

The Opening Ceremony beat the former record in number of audience with 45120 spectators. The audience was given a two hour long show that will be remembered for a long time ahead. Best ever, was the most common opinion.

The weather was normal, if that expression could be used. During Tuesday afternoon there were some raining though, that consequently involved that a number of playing fields were closed for the rest of the week.

Gothia Cup is now waiting for the big establishment of artificial grass playing fields in Gothenburg.

Gothia Cup carried out a big “guest analysis” that resulted in lots of praise.
But it also showed that the teams are a lot more competitively focused than anyone believed. Fields, referees and distances were the most important factors.

A wonderful challenge for coming year.

Just like in the year before the summer started a few days before Gothia Cup. During the tournament the sky was blue and there was a heat record. On Thursday afternoon the weather culminated in a thunderstorm. The final of the week then offered warm, but changeable weather.

Even the Opening Ceremony beat all records in number of audience, so highly that thousands of persons had to return home very disappointed. The theme was a manifesto that the participants signed as a request to the world’s great leaders to follow the conventions for children and youth that de UN has decided.

The whole document was then handed over to our Minister of Foreign Affairs Anna Lindh. The aim was that we together should have met the General Secretary of the UN Kofi Annan, but as we all know, only a couple of months after her destiny changed in the most tragic way.

The tournament was influenced of the instability caused by the attack on New York on September 11th and the number of teams from USA decreased 50% from 2001. After intense marketing these teams where “replaced” by teams from Germany, Iceland, France and England. The percentage of foreign teams was kept on the same level as the past years.
Gothia Opening Ceremony was watched by more then 42,000 spectators. With a new production team and new masters of ceremonies the show was given the highest rating ever from our participants (4.71 where the maximum is 5.0).
We had marvellous weather with a lot of sun. The favourites of the spectators during this year’s finals were without any doubt the team from Uganda winning the B13 category. Some future stars where born.

Our own football school in Burkina Faso is here to play and they showed a colorful (more than skilful) way of playing. Maybe the most attractive performance during this year.

Gothia Cup Leaders’ Café is opened for the first time. A well deserved place for all leaders to sathel at.

Finally – after numerous losses in finals and semifinals it’s time for Bordeaux to lift the cup. ”Adream has come true”, the Bordeaux leader Philippe Ozuna cries out.

But as usual most of it depends on the weather. On Wednesday noon Gothenburg was reached by several heavy rainfalls. First later in the evening the weather was clearing up and it was to establish the fact that a majority of the playing fields would not be useable on Thursday. Among others Kviberg was affected, that during heavy rain is being considerably damaged.

In total approx. 700 matches had to be moved. Not even worth mentioning if comparing with 1800 the year before.

34.000 spectators
Enough about the weather and rather pass to something else, that really turned out well. The Opening Ceremony in front of 34000 spectators was most probably the best one ever. the leaders Party at Skandinavium with 1800 guests got the highest score ever. The match between IFK Göteborg and Lazio attracted close to 38000 spectators and offered at least one half of great football. The anniversary party at the fortress of Marstrand was a great enjoyment.

The heroes from Togo
From the final play we will surely remember an excellent, technically skilled and happy team from Togo that beat any adversary. Let’s neither forget the Tahuichi edition of this year. One of the best ever. And yes, there finally was the revenge that everybody hoped for. And of course the opportunity was grasped to beat record in number of participating teams. After all, it was anniversary

This is also the year when Gothia Cup build and start the first African football school in Burkina Faso – Gothia Cup Village. 2 soccer fields and a big clubhouse is built and hundreds of boys and girls are welcomed.

His own club, BK Häcken manged another class win, with the 14 year-old boys beating Ifaistos from Athens, Greece 7-0 in the final. Tahuichi won the 16 year old boys’ class, beating AFIS Argentina 2-0 in their final.

Sweden won two classes this year – Brommapojkarna against East Bengal from India in Class C, and IFK Skoghalls’ 19 year-old girls against fellow Swedes Jitex. Tahuichi came back to defend their trophy.

Favourites Tahuichi from Bolivia fell 2-0 in their semi-final against the Gothenburg club Frölunda, who went on to lose the final against Monterrey from Mexico by the same score. Otherwise, this was Argentina’s tournament, with six teams in the finals, of which they won 4.