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Tibetan National Football Team Won Hearts at The ELF Cup, North Cyprus
By: Tharchin Y Gonpo
North Cyprus Football Association in Turkey came calling on the Tibetan National Football team of 16 players headed by the team manager Kelsang Dhundup and the coach Jigme Dorjee to participate in ELF Cup 2006.
The ELF Cup 2006 kicked off on 19th November and was organized by the North Cyprus Football Association in Turkey. The ELF Cup is a new annual football tournament where teams from all over the world can participate. There were eight participating teams for this year’s tournament
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tibetoday vol. 1 No. 1 |
| DECEMBER 10th, 2006 |
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Earlier this year, the Tibetan National Team participated in the FIFI (Football International Federation of Independents) Wild Cup tournament which was being played in Hamburg, Germany. Though the team could not win any match but it has won scores of fans and has been aptly dubbed as the “winner of hearts” by the spectators at the tournament.
Gagauzia, Greenland, Kyrgyzstan, Zanzibar, Tibet, Tajikistan, Crimea and TRNC participated. The eight teams were divided into two pools where the Tibet team was drawn into the toughest pool comprised of last year’s FIFI world cup winner, North Cyprus National team (TRNC), along with Crimiea, and Kyrgystan.
The Tibetan National Team’s first match was played against Tajikistan on 19th November at Güzelyurt Zafer Stadium. Despite having put a commendable performance, the Tibet team lost to a better side by three goals to nil. Manager Mr. Kalsang Dhondup said, “Tibet team showed tremendous performance and we could have done much better if we had enough time and the financial support to train our team”.
Fair Play Team Trophy won by Tibet Team
ELF stands for Equality, Liberty and Fraternity is the reason for organizing such a tournament for the developing countries who can showcase their talents. The biggest admirable spirit of tournament was that the countries fighting for freedom and independence can have their football trophy in backdrop of the FIFA World Cup where only independent countries can compete.
Then the third and the final league match was played against the strongest team in the tournament, North Cyprus national team on 21st November. Although the Tibetan national team displayed their best performance but the
The second match was played against Crimea team on 20th November at the same stadium. The team played even better in the second match but lost by one goal to nil. There were ample of chances but the strikers couldn’t convert them into winning goals. The only goal of the match came when the Crimea team scored the dead ball situation, penalty shoot against the Tibet team. The performance of the Tibet team was commendable considering the laspe in the professional training and the facilities to players during the camp. Above all, the limited finance hinders the team management from holding long camps before the international assignments.
Cyprus team proved too good to beat. The opponent scored ten goals to the Tibetan national team. The match ended a one sided game. The fate of other participating teams were no different from that of Tibeta team. North Cyprus thrashed Zanzibar team by 5 goals to nil in the semi-final match and took the winners trophy by defeating Crimea national team by scoring three goals to one in the final match. The winner’s trophy, the top scorer and the best goal keeper awards were bagged by North Cyprus team while the Prime Minister of the North Cyprus awarded the Tibet team a Fair Play Team trophy.
