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Semi-final line-up decided at CONIFA World Football Cup

Szekely Land, Karpatalya, Padania and Northern Cyprus in final four at CONIFA tournament in London; Liverpool legend Bruce Grobbelaar to start for Matabeleland in placement-round match on Thursday

Jon Holmes

@jonboy79

Wednesday 6 June 2018 17:20, UK

Szekely Land celebrate their victory over Western Armenia at Bromley in the CONIFA World Football Cup (all photos by Con Chronis/CONIFA)
Image: Szekely Land celebrate their victory over Western Armenia at Bromley in the CONIFA World Football Cup (all photos by Con Chronis/CONIFA)

There will be a Hungarian flavour to Thursday's second semi-final at the CONIFA World Football Cup in London, with Padania facing Northern Cyprus in the other last-four tie.

Szekely Land, a team made up of ethnic Hungarians from a region of present-day Romania, beat nine-man Western Armenia 4-0 in Tuesday's quarter-finals of the tournament for non-FIFA affiliated international teams.

Szekely Land had finished second in Group C to secure their place in the quarter-finals
Image: Szekely Land had finished second in Group C to secure their place in the quarter-finals

That set up a clash in Carshalton against Karpatalya, who represent the Magyar minority in south-west Ukraine, after they defeated Cascadia 3-1.

On the other side of the draw, Northern Cyprus thrashed tournament 'hosts' Barawa 8-0 to secure a comfortable passage through to the semis. Barawa had previously been at the centre of a player registration dispute with Group A rivals Ellan Vannin from the Isle of Man, with the latter choosing to withdraw from the placement-round matches after losing an appeal.

Western Armenia's Raffi Kaya was sent off early on, with another red card shown to one of his team-mates in the second half
Image: Western Armenia's Raffi Kaya was sent off early on, with another red card shown to one of his team-mates in the second half

Padania took their goal tally for the tournament so far to 19 as they saw off Panjab 2-0 in the other quarter-final on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Liverpool legend Bruce Grobbelaar has been confirmed in the starting line-up for Matabeleland in their placement-round clash against the Chagos Islands at Aveley on Thursday.

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The 60-year-old goalkeeper, who won 32 international caps for Zimbabwe and one for Rhodesia during his professional career, has been assisting Matabeleland coach Justin Walley at the tournament.

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Walley posted on Twitter to say that Grobbelaar would be in his team for the match against a team representing the diaspora of the Indian Ocean archipelago, who are taking the fixture in place of Ellan Vannin.

The CONIFA World Football Cup continues on Thursday, with both semi-final fixtures to be played at Carshalton Athletic's Colston Avenue stadium, and placement round matches taking place at Sutton, Bromley, Enfield and Aveley. Tickets cost £11 for adults, and £5.50 for Under-18s.

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