Liverpool’s football competition rivals the Euros for excitement

Liverpool hosts a football competition with more excitement than the Euros.

The World in One City is in the quarter-finals today, with Nigeria playing Libya and the Somali team playing Yemen. The tournament sees 16 teams from the Liverpool City Region and their national heritage compete for the title of World Champions.

Libya took the lead before Nigeria fought back to lead 2–1, only to be awarded a penalty at the break, allowing Libya to equalise. Libya scored the only goal in the second half and reached the semi-finals with a 3-2 win.

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Libya manager Malek Elwerfalli told the ECHO: “We were the underdogs, nobody expected us to be here or to get through the group stage. Here we are, the furthest we’ve been.

“The semi-final will be a big match; Yemen or Somalia team, we are looking forward to it. Why not, we could be champions, because we have players who can make it.”

Nigeria manager Timothy Ojapah said: “It was not the result we wanted. We didn’t use excuses, but four key players were injured.

“The first half we were in control, we gave a stupid penalty at halftime. The second half we never recovered.

“Good luck to Libya, they wanted more than us in the second half. Our players stopped playing for some reason. Next year.”

The second tie was a mouth-watering clash between Yemen and the Somali side, which gave the fans some of the most exciting games from their previous encounters. Before the game, Yemen coach Tarik Alawi said what he wanted from his team: “Smash the Somalis to pieces, smash them to pieces.”

The Somali manager said he wanted “courage, determination and controlled aggression”.

Almost from the kick-off, the Somali goalkeeper made an excellent save, palming the ball away for a corner, but it was the Somali side who took the lead after five minutes. Roble Mohamoud hit a 20-yard free-kick, a daisy cut around the wall in the Yemeni goal and, on balance, the Somali side went on the limit in the first half.

Somali fan Abdi, 18, said: “The first half was intense, the Somali team is ahead (and) they have to keep it to win. The Yemeni team has stamina, so the second half could be theirs, but we’ll see how it goes.”

Three minutes into the second half, Yemen equalized. A clever goal by Amro Radfani to make it 1 – 1. However, 10 minutes later, The Somali Team’s Mohammed Abdi fired home a penalty; for 2-1, a lead they held for four minutes until Yemen’s Yusuf Mohsin equalized at 2-2.

A classic head-to-head tie, action-packed and not without incident as passions ran high at times. Set for penalties with a minute left. The Somali team was awarded a free kick; From an angle Bini Ibrahim let fly (goal of the match) a right-footed shot that curled around the Yemeni wall into the top of the Yemeni goal, sending the Somali team and their supporters into ecstasy, and a 3-2 lead .

Within a minute, Fahme Ibrahim made it 4-2 with a tap. With drama and excitement in the script before kick-off, it lived up to expectations and a minute after the restart, Yemen managed a goal to make it 4 – 3 after Nabeel Salam scored a penalty.

The final whistle took forever, with 10 minutes of stoppage time. When the whistle blew, the Somali team triumphed 4-3 to face Libya in the semi-final.

Somali manager Yusuf said: “Twice before they knocked us out. Today was really good, all that has hurt in the last two years. We showed guts, determination and commitment, we showed that in abundance.

“We kept taking the lead and kept taking the game to them. The game plan we executed was absolutely emphatic, brilliant for T.

“It’s not played on a computer or a board. You have to go out there and pick up the tactic and use it. They did it brilliantly.”

On semi-final opponents Libya, Yusuf added: “A fantastic team, we played them before the tournament. We won 1-0, we were absolutely brilliant, they deserved more.

“We will take Libya, anyone, game by game. Tough test until the end. This tournament is about tough tests and we are ready for the next one.”

Next; holders West Indies v Rest of the World, followed by 2022 winners England v newcomers Guinea Bissau. WIOC is set for more excitement and great football and if yesterday’s matches are anything to go by, they certainly rival the Euros for show.

For information visit WIOC HERE

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