Street Child team end Kics Cup campaign on a winning note

The 2014 World Cup side won two, lost one in the Chicago tournament.

KARACHI: Pakistan’s Street Child team finished second in their group at the Chicago Kics Cup on their first trip to the US after defeating Illinois club RB United 2-0 on Friday.

Pakistan played three matches in Bracket A Group Red of the U16 category, where they were pitted against Costa Rica’s San Carlos and Illinois’ clubs GFC Mustangs and RB United.

Earlier in the tournament, Pakistan lost to San Carlos 3-0 in their opening match. However, they bounced back to beat GFC Mustangs 1-0 and wrapped up the campaign on a winning note against RB United and collected six points.

Talking about their first trip to the US, captain Auragzeb Baba said that his aim was to make a mark and ensure a respectable performance from the team.

Aurangzeb was a key contributor at the Street Child World Cup 2014 in Brazil and feels that the evolution of the team from a seven-a-side outfit to a full 11 players group has been a great experience for him.

“After the first match, all I wanted was to win the next,” Aurangzeb told The Express Tribune. “It was a tough tournament and now that we play as a full 11-player team, I desperately wanted us to prove ourselves.”

The skipper added that the tournament was also beneficial in terms of learning. “We learned from our opponents mostly who were using new techniques that we were unaware of.”

Aurangzeb further said that San Carlos were deserving winners of the group with seven points. “The national team of Costa Rica also played at the 2014 FIFA World Cup, so these players were coming from a country where football is very popular and have a sound understanding of the game,” he said. “I enjoyed playing our first match even though we lost.”

In Group White, Chicago Wolves finished first with seven points, while Palestinians 48 secured second place with six points.

Both groups featured four teams in a league format.

On the other hand, team manager and Azad Foundation director Itfan Maqbool said that he hoped the footballers have identified their weak areas as they head to take part in the Norway Cup. “We could’ve performed better, but I know the players did their best,” said Itfan.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 25^th,  2015.

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