Let The Competition Begin!

We wouldn't be in Timor unless we played soccer - so many people live and breathe it here! Last time I played a soccer game in Timor it was against the National Team so I did not have high hopes for how competitive we would be this time :) Maybe one of the the conditions for coming to Timor should be super soccer skills??? After work on Monday afternoon - when it had cooled down a little bit we had a game against the youth of the church. I was blown away with how intense the game was - we sure had some high quality players in the Aussie team so the game was very competitive. Sam kicked a bunch of impressive goals, Jess played with more intensity than I've ever seen anyone else play and Felicity was supreme in the goals along with Martin. Then between Bunky, Jade and Leon there was a lot of skill and Tori, Marriel and I rotated through. My soccer skills are somewhat sketchy but I got in there and gave it the a good crack. Was a fun game and I think the local team was a bit surprised that a bunch of Aussies managed to play so well :) The game lasted 1.5 hours so it was very nice that it was a cloudy afternoon. We still sweated buckets though! In the end team Aussie was victorious. WOO!

Unfortunately the photos uploaded in backwards order.... 

The spectator crowd - which slowly grew as the game went on. Keen to see if those bulle can actually kick a ball :)

Marriel giving the boys a run for their money.

The littler kids gave up on playing with the big boys so they started their own game in on the other space  - which is where the futsal court was being built.

Even Ed joined the game for a bit. He said he wouldn't play long coz the local boys would take it easy on him - can't hurt the pastor now, can you?!

On Tuesday we played another game - this time against the high school kids. Was an intense game in the hot sun and plenty of back and forth in the scoring but we managed to beat them in the end.  

At one point there were far more Timorese on the field than Aussies.... but you gotta give them a go! Was hilarious to watch Jess playing because she would go in and tackle the boys and they'd back off because she was a girl. Worked out to our advantage :)

Dever having a crack.

Soccer is a hands-off game right?!

Sam sure hasn't lost his superb skills over the years.

When you play soccer you gotta have your name on your shirt, right? Fictor taking the game very seriously. 

The girls with Zipporah. Was great to see her again - I'd met her on previous trips. I love catching up and finding out what the local people are doing now. Zipporah is working in a government office in Kupang. 

Can't have a concrete mixer in the way of the soccer goals... so removing it was the first thing to be done.

And there were plenty of chiefs!