We Come To Play Fair (and win)
After four days of glorious sunshine, the weather conditions got more challenging for all teams during the second half of the Homeless World Cup. When a Hungarian player slipped and fell on the wet pitch yesterday, Egypt had a clear opportunity to score. Instead, their coach instructed them to kick the ball out of play, resulting in applause from the audience.
Award presenter Kasali Casal called it “a great act of fair play in the spirit of the Homeless World Cup” as the players received their medals from Raymond Beaard of the international professional footballers union FIFPRO, who sponsor the Fair Play awards.
“We come to play fair”, said Egypt coach Ahmed Abdelaal Abdelsamie. “We respect every team.” Although winning is not the only thing that matters, all teams do of course want to give it their best. Rushing off to their quarter final game against trophy-holders Mexico, he said: “We can play fair and still win our next game, inshallah.”
Twenty minutes later, that dream came true for the Egyptians: next to a fair play medal, they had also secured a place in the Homeless World Cup semi-finals.
Words by Danielle Batist | Photos by Donnie Nicholson