Kerdel Richards and Akiem St Phillip each netted a goal to help Argentina come out on top in second Shaka's World Cup on Sunday at the Aranquez Savannah in San Juan.
Richards and St Phillip starred for the Argentina team represented by Hearts of Maloney (HOME) football club defeated Germany (Santa Cruz United Football Academy), 2-0 in the exciting finale to win the exciting Under-14 football competition themed “Putting A Dent In Crime”.
Argentina, coached by Kenyatta Alfred and Andy Orr, reached the title match after defeating Spain (Beatnix SC), 2-0 the day before with goals from Richards and captain Phillip Tinto. In the other semifinal match, Germany edged France (FC Ginga), 1-0. Tyreke Nathaniel netted the winner.
Argentina took home the first-place prize of $5,000 along with the winning trophy and gold medals in the tournament hosted by Dwayne "Shaka" Brewster and sponsored by Advance Foam, Church On The Rock, Joe’s One Stop and Tony Shopping Centre.
"We won and we had a fun game. We hope to come back next year," said another top player of Argentina 11-year-old Darren De Four, who attends Maloney Government Primary School.
Individual awards were presented following the finale and De Four's teammate Mathias Cruickshank emerged the best goal-keeper.
"They worked hard for it and hard work pays off. Just bringing back the community as one bringing all the players within the community to stay home. That's what Heart of Maloney is about, to represent Maloney," said Alfred, adding that the players had more discipline and that he and fellow coach taught their player from a professional standpoint, how to be professional from a young age and how to carry about themselves home.
"For that, I congratulate them for doing the right thing and listening to the coaches and being respectful in Shaka World Cup. We thank Shaka for having this World Cup to show better within the community and bringing back communities together so it's a plus on behalf of the youth clubs."
Emerging the "Most Valuable Player" (MVP) was France's Darion Marfan, who was also the leading scorer in the tournament with 11 goals while "Most Determined Team" was Spain.
Marfan scored three goals to lift France to a 4-0 victory over Spain.
"The competition ran smoothly compared to last year. The teams were very disciplined and followed the rules of the competition," said Brewster. "It ran how I wanted it to run."
The support was overwhelming this season according to the organiser and the eight teams that competed were appreciative of the league that focused on the youth. The other participating teams were Uruguay (Banfield Soccer clinic), T&T (Shaka Football Club), Cameroon (Shaka Football Club) and Brazil (Trendsetter Hawks FC).
"The feedback from the teams were great. They are ready to register for next year. They enjoyed playing," said Brewster. "It was about giving the kids a chance to play in a World Cup that's why they represented different countries. It also showed the discipline needed to play in a World Cup."
RESULTS
Sunday
Final
Argentina 2 (Kerdel Richards, Akiem St Phillip) vs Germany (Santa Cruz United Academy) 0
Third place
France 4 (Darion Marfan 3, Ethan Ramrattan) vs Spain 0
Saturday
Semifinals
Germany 1 (Tyreke Nathaniel) vs France 0
Argentina 2 (Phillip Tinto and Kerdel Richards) vs Spain 0
Honour roll
Top scorer: Darion Marfan (France) - 11 goals
MVP: Darion Marfan (France)
Best goalkeeper: Mathias Cruickshank (Argentina)
League: 1 Argentina; 2 Germany; 3 France
Most determined team: Spain