- Sputnik International
World
Get the latest news from around the world, live coverage, off-beat stories, features and analysis.

Russia takes second place at soccer Homeless World Cup

Subscribe
Russia has lost 5-4 to Afghanistan in the final of soccer's 2008 Homeless World Cup in Melbourne, Australia.
MOSCOW, December 8 (RIA Novosti) - Russia has lost 5-4 to Afghanistan in the final of soccer's 2008 Homeless World Cup in Melbourne, Australia.

The team beat last year's champions, Scotland, 7-3 on Saturday to make Sunday's showdown with the Central Asian side.

The competition kicked off on December 1, and brought together teams from 56 countries. Russia, which has been participating in the competition since 2003, won the tournament in 2006. The side began its 2008 campaign last Monday with a 9-6 victory over Ghana.

Soccer tournaments for the homeless are now international events, and the Homeless World Cup is held every year, uniting teams from around the globe in a bid to fight poverty.

The tournament was co-founded by leading social entrepreneur Mel Young and Austrian street paper editor Harald Schmied, who came up with the idea over a beer in 2001 while they were attending the annual International Network of Street Papers conference in Cape Town.

Teams are made up of four players on each side. Matches last 14 minutes and take place on a 22m x 16m pitch. Last year's tournament was won by Scotland. To qualify players must be or have been homeless at some time in the previous year.

New champions Afghanistan were unbeaten throughout the competition.

Zambia beat Liberia 7-1 to win the inaugural women's tournament.

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала