The much awaited inter-state soccer tournament kicked off today at Oakland Tag High School soccer field in Oakland California.
Four matches were played between the participating states on Friday, organizers informed.
Bhutanese teams from Colorado, Dallas of Texas , Georgia and Fort Worth of Texas secured their victory against California A, Utah, Phoenix and Washington teams respectively.
Milan Rai of Colorado scored the first goal of the tournament in 23 mins followed by 3 goals against the host team California A. While, California A walked out of tournament with a single goal.
The Georgian team scored 5 goals in a match played against the Phoenix team, which failed to score any goal.
Likewise, Dallas Texas team was declared winner of the third game with a total of 4 scores as Utha was knocked out of the tournament with no scores.
The fourth battle of Fort Wort, Texas against Washington ended in tie breaker shoot out paving way for Fort Wort to the quarter final.
The game was very spectacular and competitive in which both the teams scored 2 goals each within the stipulated time of 70 mins. Ill-fated Washington team got knocked out of the tournament with a loss of one goal after a scoring a total of 7 goals against the Texas team.
The organizers further informed that a total of various 13 teams have registered in the tournament. All the remaining matches have been scheduled for Saturday. The final match will be held on Sunday.
The Bhutanese Community of California (BCC) and the California Bhutanese Youths Club have jointly organized the tournament with a slogan ‘soccer for growth’.
While, the host community and the organizers provided arrangements with transportation, food and lodging to the needy teams. Volunteers from the “Soccer Beyond Borders” have been providing the organizers with technical and other necessary logistic.
Meanwhile, Sandeep Subba of California A team sustained a minor injury during the Friday’s tournament, where certified Bhutanese umpire Jit Basnet judged all the matches that attracted some 300 soccer fans from within the community.
