It was a grand finale to the Danone Nations Cup World Cup final at the Orlando Stadium in Soweto today when South Africa were crowned the 2009 and Mexico the 2010 champions of this, the biggest tournament for kids in the world.
Throngs of people turned up early to watch the final day of play and the sounds of vuvuzela’s reverberated throughout the stadium. The thousands of kids that arrived immediately went to have some fun in the Danone activation area where they played mini soccer, had a turn on the jumping castles rode, tried their luck on the rodeo bull and watched the live entertainment put on by sponsors – Danone, Canon, Edgars, Jozi FM, Adidas and others.
But the focus was on the field of play as the 1 120 kids fought for final placings. The 2009 Danone Nations Cup Finals were played first with Australian and Bangladesh kicking off for 39 and 40 placings at 8.30am.
In the spirit of the pillars that the Danone Nations Cup is build upon, which are openness, fair play, accessibility and passion, there were no red or yellow cards given.
There is no doubt that one of the key games played in the 2009 edition was between Egypt and France, the reigning champions. France scored early in the game and held on to their score advantage leaving little room for the North African team to move. Although the champions (who have won the tournament twice before in 2000 and 2008) won the game, this gave them 19th position and Egypt in 20th position.
Then there was the game between Canada and Russia which was a fast moving and skilled game. It was of no surprise when Canada (who seem to have a flair for scoring) hit the back of the net first, but the Russians came back and equalised. One might have thought that having two women in the team might hold them back, but this was not the case and the girls showed their counterpart that they are no pushovers.
Canada finally won 3 – 2 to put them in 17th position and Russia in 18th position.
When South Africa took to the field to compete in the final, the home fans, who were all dressed in yellow to spur on their team, were singing and blowing the vuvuzela’s. The home team scored early to put them 1 – 0 up against the bigger Switzerland boys and a couple of minutes later missed a penalty but scored again just before the end of play to clinch the championship by 2 goals to 0.
And then it was time for the 2010 Danone Nations Cup World Final!
Zinedine Zidane arrived at the stadium at lunch with Danone CEO, Franck Riboud, and walked around the field watching the games stopping every now and again to greet a youngster or give a bit of advice. There was not one of the 1 120 kids participating that were not in awe of this world famous footballer. What makes Zidane that much more popular is that fact that he triumphed in his football career despite his humble beginnings. He is a true example of believing in your dreams, the motto that the Danone Nations Cup is built on
The final game between Mexico and Uruguay was an exciting one with the entire stadium on the edge of their seats as both teams were evenly matched. Both countries were excited to get into the final as they have not reached such a high position in an international tournament – no matter what age group including the senior team – and wanted to prove that development in their home countries was something to be proud of.
But in the end it was Mexico that finally took the trophy winning by 2 – 0
Franck Riboud ended of by announcing that the 2011 Danone Nations World Cup will take place in Spain!
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