LIMA, Peru: It is a cold morning under lead-gray skies, but the fans who have trooped to Lima’s El Porvenir neighborhood are hot to start the Little World Cup — their annual street soccer championship.
To score good seats, people camp out the night before, lining the road where the games have packed the streets every May 1 for a half century. Others pay the equivalent of $2 for a balcony view from apartment buildings to catch the games that Peruvians also call “The People’s Party.”
The working-class neighborhood ritual in El Porvenir began in the 1950s as a challenge to the Manuel Odria military dictatorship when playing in the streets was forbidden.
The tournament has been a big focus for Peruvian fans for a while, because the country’s national team has not qualified to play in international soccer’s World Cup since 1982.
“Here they play no holds barred. This is for ‘machos’ and it’s crazy to be a referee,” said one fan, Teodoro Aquino, who was sipping beer with friends before the day’s first game. Aquino has attended the championship for four decades in his crime-ridden corner of the capital.
All 56 teams bring along their most fervent fans to defend each goal, and disputes can come to blows, so about 50 anti-riot police officers guarded the asphalt pitch at this year’s competition. Police beat back fans trying to invade the field during breaks between games and vendors worked the crowd selling gelatin and baked potatoes.
The referees get special protection since half the spectators never agree with a call and the most disgruntled are apt to throw bottles and chicken bones. But the referees do not mince their words and seem to be immune to pressure coming from the stands.
Players stop to pray before entering the pitch and fans light flares from the sidelines.
At the end of the day, after 30 games, the team from the capital’s Purito Barrios Altos neighborhood took home this year’s trophy, a $2,500 cash prize and 12 pairs of soccer cleats. One supporter of the winning team threatened rival fans who challenged the final result as he trotted around showing off his team’s trophy.
Street soccer tournament packs Lima neighborhood
Street soccer tournament packs Lima neighborhood
Salah unaffected by Liverpool turmoil ahead of AFCON opener — Egypt coach
AGADIR: Mohamed Salah has shown no signs of being distracted by the uncertainty surrounding his future at Liverpool as he prepares to lead Egypt into the Africa Cup of Nations, Pharaohs coach Hossam Hassan said on Sunday.
“Salah’s morale in training is very high, as if he were just starting out with the national team, and I believe he will have a great tournament with his country,” Hassan told reporters ahead of Egypt’s opening AFCON game against Zimbabwe in Agadir on Monday.
“I feel his motivation is very, very strong. Salah is an icon and will remain so. He is one of the best players in the world, and I support him in everything he does,” Hassan added.
Salah did not start any of Liverpool’s last five games before departing for the Cup of Nations in Morocco and things came to a head following the recent Premier League draw at Leeds United when he claimed he had been “thrown under the bus” by his coach at Anfield, Arne Slot.
That suggested a move away from the troubled Premier League champions during the January transfer window was a real possibility.
“I don’t consider what happened to him to be a crisis. These things often happen between players and coaches,” Hassan added.
“We’ve been in contact with him by phone from the beginning, and I met with him when he joined the national team camp. His focus is entirely on the tournament.”
Salah, 33, is aiming to lead Egypt to a record-extending eighth AFCON title in Morocco. He has never won the continental title, but ended up on the losing side in final defeats by Cameroon in 2017 and Senegal in 2022.
His goals this year have already helped Egypt qualify for the World Cup.
“Whenever Salah’s performances dip with his club, he regains his strength with the national team and becomes even better, whether by contributing to goals or scoring himself. Then he returns to his club even stronger,” Hassan added.
“He needs to win the cup by helping us and by helping himself.”
Egypt will also face South Africa and Angola in Group B at the Cup of Nations, with all three of their games in the first round being played in Agadir.
