Holders Abkhazia and hotly-tipped Ellan Vannin fail to progress to last eight; Romania legend Laszlo Boloni, supporting Szekely Land, praises CONIFA's tournament message
Monday 4 June 2018 12:16, UK
Both the holders and the pre-tournament favourites have failed to progress to the quarter-finals at the 'alternative World Cup' being held in London.
The final group-stage games at the CONIFA World Football Cup - the 16-team tournament made up of teams representing non-FIFA affiliated territories and states - took place on Sunday.
Abkhazia, the partially recognised Black Sea state who won the Cup on home soil in 2016, could only draw 2-2 with Northern Cyprus at Enfield, a result that left them third in Group B behind their opponents and table-toppers Karpatalya, who defeated Tibet 5-1 at Bracknell.
Also missing from the last eight will be Isle of Man team Ellan Vannin, hotly tipped for the title at the start of proceedings last week but edged out on goal difference in the final Group A reckoning by Cascadia, who they had beaten on the opening matchday.
Ellan Vannin lost 2-0 to 'hosts' Barawa at Haringey on Sunday and with Cascadia thrashing Tamil Eelam 6-0 at Fisher FC in Rotherhithe, the Manx representatives go into the placement rounds instead of the main knockout stages.
Barawa will meet Northern Cyprus at Sutton in the first quarter-final on Tuesday, with Karpatalya facing Cascadia at the same venue later in the day.
On the other side of the draw, Panjab finished second in Group D after drawing 1-1 at Slough with United Koreans in Japan. They will take on Padania in the last eight, with the Italians winning 3-1 in their final Group C clash at Bedfont against Szekely Land. The latter will contest the fourth quarter-final against Western Armenia, who saw off Kabylia 4-0 at Enfield.
In Sunday's other match, Matabeleland beat Tuvalu 3-1 at Haringey.
Among those supporting the Szekely Land team, who represent ethnic Hungarians living in a region of present-day Romania, is Laszlo Boloni, who won over 100 caps for Romania as a midfielder and was part of the Steaua Bucharest side that famously beat Barcelona on penalties in the 1986 European Cup final in Seville.
Boloni, born to a Szekely family in the city of Targu Mures, moved into management after his playing career ended and is widely credited with putting Cristiano Ronaldo on the road to fame and fortune, having promoted the then 16-year-old into the Sporting Lisbon first team in 2002.
Boloni won the Portuguese league and cup double with Sporting, and also claimed the Belgian title as Standard Liege boss in 2008/9.
Now manager of Royal Antwerp, the 65-year-old - proudly wearing a Szekely Land replica shirt while watching their game against Padania - told Sky Sports he was impressed with the tournament, and its message.
"I am from this area of Transylvania, so to come and watch is a way for me to say thank you to them for the period when they supported me," said Boloni.
"What is most important for me is not the result, it's the idea of what the teams represent. The message for us [Szekely Land] is that 'we are a few million, somewhere in the world' - it's good that everyone knows this.
"I congratulate the organisation [CONIFA] for putting this on. I don't want to speak about our politics - the message is just that we are there, we are in Romania and we have our culture, our personality, and we can live together.
"The standard of football might not be high quality, but their heart and the idea of what they represent is very important for me."
The CONIFA World Football Cup continues on Tuesday, with quarter-final fixtures and placement round matches taking place at Sutton, Bracknell, Bromley, Enfield and Aveley. Tickets cost £11 for adults, and £5.50 for Under-18s.
