GBA soccer tournament
A joint team from the educational sector and the business world took part in a soccer tournament organised by the German Business Association. IGS and BBraun have had a cooperation going for several years now. So it was only logical that colleagues from IGS gladly accepted the invitation to join the team.
Five male and one female colleague – of course our Brazilian miracle-worker – trained hard for this challenge during the weekly teachers’ sports sessions and the pool parties, which usually follow!
At 10 in the morning and on the wonderful sports grounds of RMIT UNI in District 7, the tournament was opened with the group stages in bright sunshine and temperatures well over 30 degrees Celsius. In two groups of four, everyone played against everyone else in matches lasting 2 x 10 minutes.
After a tough start against strong opponents, our team drew twice, in the first game the equalizer happened with the final blow of the whistle. However, by winning 7:1 in the last group match, the team qualified in second place for the semi-finals. After a quick 2:0 lead, we finally won 2:1 and got through to the final.
During the lunch break and before the final, a cheerleading group spurred the soccerplayers on to top performances. Even in the final our team was twice in the lead but had to accept an unfortunate equaliser against a strong opponent, despite the great support our fans showed us.
Our hopes were high for the penalty shootout and also for our young goalkeeper Paul who was named best goalkeeper of the tournament. He saved a penaltiy but as we missed twice, we ended the tournament in second place, still to the cheers of all.
In addition to our Brazilian Cibele and our goalkeeper Paul, the two top performers Quang and Marius from IGS showed excellent skill in the tournament, while Erhard as the senior was in charge of ensuring that the boys (and girl) were able to catch their breaths from time to time.
The organisers were so enthusiastic about the event that this tournament will probably take place again next year and could become a tradition in HCMC.
