ConIFA World Cup Group B
Queen Elizabeth II Stadium, Enfield
Admission: £11.00
Programme: £5.00 (covering entire tournament)
Attendance: 1,200 (estimate)
Match Rating: 5
Following my earlier game at Haringey, I made my way northwards by bus to the home of Enfield Town, for the game I was looking forward to the most today, being played between two teams whose participation in the tournament was controversial to say the least. It would also be intriguing to watch a match that would be surely well attended thanks to a large Turkish Cypriot population in London, and a rare opportunity to watch a team representing Tibet in action, who would surely get a large sympathetic support, as well from Tibetans in exile.
The Queen Elizabeth II Stadium is about a five minute walk from Cambridge Gardens bus stop, or about a half hour walk to Enfield Town train station, and has seen no noticeable alterations since my previous visit in 2013. Spectators enter in one corner of the ground, with a large building stretching roughly between corner flags. The clubhouse and changing rooms are located on the bottom floor, whilst on the top bar, there is an additional bar, along with a seated area, and a balcony either side of the seating area to watch the game from. Closer to the pitchside railings, there are separate areas of a few open terrace steps to stand on. Straddling the half way line on the other side there is a black modern metallic stand, whilst behind both goals, modern metallic stands cover a few terrace steps. Unfortunately an athletics track runs around the pitch, meaning views are somewhat distance along both lengths (which makes the first floor balcony on the clubhouse perhaps the best area to watch the action from), although spectators are much closer to the pitch behind both goals.
Both teams had to endure considerable pressure against their participation in this competition. Greek Cypriot organisations protested loudly about Northern Cyprus being allowed to play in an area with a large Greek Cypriot population, and additionally contacted each Council hosting matches in the competition (not just those involving Northern Cyprus) asking them to force the hosting club to pull out. According to the competition organisers, potential sponsors of the tournament pulled out, concerned about China's reaction to the participation of Tibet, leaving just bookmaker Paddy Power as the sole sponsor for the tournament, a big blow for a volunteer run organisation that struggles to raise sufficient funds as it is. Fortunately, such pressure had no influence. Northern Cyprus were ranked third in the ConIFA rankings, and are traditionally one of the power houses of the organisation, finishing in fifth place two years ago and runners-up in 2012 in previous editions of the World Football Cup, and were runners up in the European Football Cup last year. Tibet, drawn from players exiled from their homeland, were very much an unknown quantity, and were offered a wild card to participate in this competition. This would be their first World Football Cup tournament. In their opening fixtures in this competition on Thursday, Northern Cyprus drew 1-1 with Kárpátalja, while Tibet lost 0-3 to reigning World Football Cup champions Abkhazia.
With temperatures still remaining very warm for this evening game, the scheduled 5pm kick-off time was delayed by 15 minutes due to crowd congestion at the turnstiles. Indeed, the crowd would be a reported record for the ground, and there was a real carnival atmosphere all around, with flags of both "nations" abundant all around the ground, with plenty of singing taking place throughout, and a couple of Northern Cyprus supporters circulating the ground pretty much throughout the match banging a drum with a trumpet playing. Northern Cyprus were big favourites to win this match. And with barely two minutes on the clock, they took the lead. Halil Turan ran onto a ball over the top down the right wing, and he powerfully struck the ball from just inside the outer corner of the penalty area across the keeper and into the net. They went on to dominate much of the first half, but squandered chances that came their way. Tibet battled gamely to stay in the game, and they were fully rewarded two minutes before half time with a goal to level the scores when Kalsang Topgyal deflected a low cross from the left into the net via a deflection through the goalkeeper, to cue wild celebration amongst the Tibetan supporters. So a surprising half time scoreline, one that rewarded Tibet's tenacity, although Northern Cyprus really should have put the game to bed long before the equaliser.
Tibet actually started the second half the stronger, looking quite comfortable and even looked just about the likelier to take the lead, and four minutes after the break almost took advantage of a defensive slip, when a long range shot hit the post. Gradually, Northern Cyprus got back into the game, and on 61 minutes, a ball curled into the box was flicked on by a head, to divert the ball onto the top of the bar. But on 64 minutes, Northern Cyprus retook the lead. The ball was played diagonally into the penalty area, and Turan ran onto the ball wide of the six yard box and fired the ball home, beating the keeper at his near post - the keeper really should have done better with it. And on 70 minutes, Northern Cyprus opened up a two goal cushion with their third goal. A perfectly judged flighted ball over the defence found Ugur Gok, who chipped the ball over the keeper and into the net. That sealed the victory, as they comfortably controlled the rest of the game, and progression to the quarter finals is very much in their hands, just needing to avoid defeat to Abkhazia tomorrow. Tibet have a tough task ahead to gain a positive result in their final game against Kárpátalja, and will probably have to wait for the following placement matches to gain a positive result. But they certainly impressed with their style of play, and whilst second best for long periods today, looked far from outclassed.
As I made my way to the train station after the game, I felt exhausted after two games standing in hot conditions, but reflected on a thoroughly enjoyable day, where pride in their respective "nations" was really evident, giving a gloriously colourful, friendly international feel to proceedings, with little of the trappings of the modern commercial game. It left very much looking forward to my next taste of the competition, on finals day next Saturday,
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