Northern Cyprus 0 v 0 Kárpátalya

Kárpátalya won 3-2 on penalties
Saturday 9th June 2018
ConIFA World Football Cup Final
Queen Elizabeth II Stadium, Enfield
Admission: £10.00 online (plus mandatory £1 donation for ConIFA member association of one's choice)
Programme: £5.00 (covering entire tournament)
Attendance: 2673
Match Rating: 3

After taking in the second half of the placement game at Haringey, I quickly made my way to the bus stop to take the 217 bus northwards along Great Cambridge Road, exactly as I had done last Saturday, for the kick off which was sensibly put back from 6 to 6.30, to cater for the anticipated bumper crowd, and to allow the fans, players and officials from games at other grounds in earlier kick-offs sufficient time to make this showpiece event. Although this fixture would mean a second visit for me within a week, and watching one of the teams again, if this fixture had just half of the atmosphere and excitement of last Saturday’s fixture, I knew I would be in for a treat.

These two teams actually met at this very same ground on the opening day of the tournament, with that game ending in a 1-1 draw. Northern Cyprus then went onto beat Tibet 3-1 (the game I watched), and then drew 2-2 against reigning champions Abkhazia, which was enough to seal progression and eliminate Abkhazia. They then went on to beat “hosts” Barawa 8-0 in the quarter finals, and then Padania 3-2, coming back from 1-2 down with ten minutes to go. Kárpátalya, who were only invited to participate in this tournament as replacements for fellow Hungarian ethnic region Felvidek last month, beat Abkhazia 2-0 and Tibet 5-1 in the group stage, before beating Cascadia 3-1 in the quarter finals and then fellow ethnic Hungarian outfit Székely Land 4-2 in the semi-finalists.

With a large Turkish Cypriot population in North London, as well as a fair sized Hungarian one, this fixture was expected to draw a large crowd, and so it proved, as the ground was packed to the rafters all around, with over 2500 spectators present. One had to question the wisdom of playing the fixture at this stadium though, with views distant along both lengths at best and poor at worst, but at least it was roomy enough to present no safety issues, with fans also able to stand on the grass bank just outside the ground. The build up to kick off saw flares let off from the Hungarian end, plenty of music from the Cypriot fans, a display of traditional dance from Northern Cyprus, and some eccentric firing up of the crowd from the Cypriot kitman in his pink died hair, before former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg led the teams out.

Unfortunately, the game itself was a disappointment, unsurprisingly a cagey affair, and in the first half Northern Cyprus had the upper hand for long periods, but Kárpátalya had the better of the few chances created to open the scoring. On 10 minutes, a cross was whipped in and flicked off a defender's head and went just wide of his own goal, whilst on 35 minutes, a corner flashed across the goal and was deflected behind for a corner.

It was Northern Cyprus who had the opening chance of the second half, when a far post header from a corner forced a flying finger tip save from the keeper, while three minutes later, it was Kárpátalya who forced a good flying catch from the keeper following a shot from the edge of the area. As rain started to fall with about 15 minutes remaining, Northern Cyprus suddenly pushed hard for a winner and missed some decent chances to win the title - on 82 minutes, an unmarked far post header saw the ball come back off the crossbar, and a minute from time, another header from a cross went just over the bar, and with the last action of the game, a throw in was flicked on, and a far post header went over the bar. And with no extra time to be played in this tournament, the full-time whistle heralded penalty kicks to decide who would lift the trophy.

Northern Cyprus would have been very pleased that the penalties would take place in front of their own fans, but it was all going horribly wrong for them when Kárpátalya scored their first two penalties, but Northern Cyprus saw their first two saved. But the sequence was reversed with the next two penalties - Kárpátalya seeing their third penalty hit the post and their fourth one saved, while Northern Cyprus scored their third and fourth, to mean sudden death on the fifth round of penalties. Kárpátalya scored theirs, but Northern Cyprus saw theirs saved, as the Kárpátalya ran the length of the pitch in celebration and leave the majority of the crowd disappointed. With the rain continuing and a tricky journey home in store with local trains not running today, I decided to leave before the trophies were presented and the closing ceremony, which was a shame.

I was feeling quite sad that the ConIFA World Football Cup was now over, but it had been a thoroughly enjoyable experience, learning more about regions around the world I mostly knew next to nothing about before the tournament, watching teams I would never usually encounter, enjoying the contrasting support of the various teams, and there was a lovely combination of competitive but good natured spirit between the players. It was also refreshing to see players clearly keen to make the most of the experience and playing for their "nation". Enormous credit should go to the organisers, a small team of volunteers, who despite the odd hiccup, put on a fabulous celebration of international football for the non FIFA recognised "nations. Hopefully the competition will return to London some time in the not too distant future, with the multi-cultural nature of the city ensuring that most teams are well supported, although presumably - and rightly - it will be taken around the world

for the next few editions at least. But my next summer tournament football will probably come in the form of the Inter Island games in Anglesey next June, also a competition I have very much enjoyed when I experienced it on Jersey and the Isle of Wight.

Highlights of this match can be viewed by clicking here.