Staff Reporter
Ponsonby Club won the FIANZ Eid Cup 2014 at an exciting soccer final last week.
The strong team won over the Botany Club.
Organised by the New Muslim Sports Association, the four-day Tournament was held at the Centre Park Stadium in Mangere from December 4 to 7, 2014.
The Tournament, which witnessed a good crowd, was delayed by FANCA Soccer Tournament held in Fiji in October (See related report in this Section).
Tough competition
The Ponsonby Team came well prepared, bringing with them some of their old players and a few guests from Auckland and Australia.
It was a hard-fought final for both the teams with a high level of competitive soccer rarely seen in ethnic group matches.
Ponsonby played the local Botany side (established in November 2013) under the leadership of Rauf Khan.
The Club beat Botany 3-1 in the Final to Lift the Cup after a few years of absence.
Federation Islamic Association of New Zealand (FIANZ) representatives Hazim Arafah, Firoz Patel, FANCA President Mohammed Yusuf and New Zealand Football Chief Jeremy Milne were among the Guests of Honour.
New Beginning
This was a beginning of new era for New Zealand Muslim sports with the introduction of Children’s Soccer and Volleyball.
The Association has is keen to develop soccer playing skills among the younger members of the society.
The Results
Rockie of the Tournament: Ziad Yusuf (Papatoetoe); Golden Boot: Soheb Sheikh (Papatoetoe), Bara Hussain (Mt Wellington) and Robert Sahib (Botany); Most Valuable Player: Fissun Tamarat; The Golden Gloves: Mohammed Imran (Ponsonby).
The Tournament Team: Waikato; Tournament Manager: Imtiaz Khan (Dannemora).
New Muslim Sports Association Legends Award-Sameer Ali (Ponsonby).
