Mathare Boys (u13) win Gold at Norway Cup 2009

By KiO reporters at Norway Cup
After scoring a total of 80 goals at this year's tournament, the two finalists, Warsay (Eritrea) and Mathare United's under 13 boys shared the gold medal without scoring a single goal. The match was very entertaining with both teams sending their supporters screaming and dancing with joy as they pushed each other from one part of the field to the other. The technical abilities and accuracy displayed by both teams was more than worth the gold medals.

Africa Cup of Nations
According to one of the supporters, the final match was beyond the confines of Norway cup since the two teams were both from Africa and they had both defeated two Norwegian teams at the semis. Warsay defeated Oslo's own Lyn while Mathare United beat yet another Oslo team, Grorud. Needless to say; both matches at the semis were played today at Vålerenga's own grounds at Valle Hovin, they both started after 12:15 and the two African teams won with a 2-0 margin over their Oslo counterparts. Grorud and Lyn finally clinched on their bronze medals at the end of the finals.

Golden Goal
A 0-0 draw at the end of the game led to an extra time that was supposed to be finalised with a golden goal. The teams were equally sharp and vigilant that none managed to score the most wanted goal that would have meant no sharing of the gold.

Rainbow
The rains that had stopped yesterday's matches showed remorse today. Instead a beautifull rainbow painted the sky. The latter added glamour to the final ceremony as the boys received their gold medals. According to one Eritrean supporter, 'it is good that we played as brothers and can now travel back home as brothers having shared the gold equally. Look at the rainbow, it is telling us to mix like the colours of our flags, we are one people...'


Best Player
Our reporters at Ekkeberg had interviewed many staunch supporters of MYSA to vote their best player before the final game. At half time the reporters went around to get the response. More than 70% of the ones interviewed meant that Avella (Nr 7) was the best player of the day. At the end of the match, the official Norway Cup jury declared Avella the best player not only at the finals but also his class, Diplom, at the 2009 tournament.

Best supporters
Mathare United had their best supporters at the finals. Despite being outnumbered by their Eritrean counterparts, the Kenyan supporters cheered their team with song, dance and drums all the way to the podium. The Kenyan flags were visible from a far not to mention the jovial mood that cemented the great day in the lives of the under 13 boy's from Mathare. Top hits like Mathare moto sana; Huyo, Huyo; Mama Milka and Iende mbele kept the supporters dancing through the finals.

Boys under 16 beat Brazil

Mathare's under 16 boys defeated Brazil's own Karanba players in a match that ended with a 1.1 draw at full time. However, after the extra time, Mathare proved to the Brazilians that they were best in panalties which they won 5-4. MYSA's keeper managed to save the deciding penalty!

Mathare boys later lost 0-2 to Senegal at the 1/4 finals played at Haugerud in one of their most well balanced games. KiN congratulates Mathare United and all their supporters for their great performance. We look forward to seing you all next year's Norway Cup.

Notice: There will be a Kenyan party for MYSA on sunday. Contact Makosir for details.