Türkiye is the new amputee football World Champion. They defeated Angola 4-1 in the final. In front of an enthusiastic crowd at the Galatasaray Stadium on Sunday 09 October. Both teams played a good game but the winner could be only one.
Although Angola dominated the game in the first minutes, Ömer Güleryüz took the lead in the 19th minute. Practically at the half-time whistle, Angola scored a free kick goal by Heno Adão to make it 1-1. In the second half of the game Turkish players were pushing African team more to the defense. The penalty by Rahmi Özcan seemed to chill Angolans’ action. The host of the tournament scored two more goals, through a long shot by Rahmi Özcan and then by Serkan Dereli. Türkish team won their first World Cup, after being runner-up in 2018 in Mexico and loosing to Angola in the final they finally bring the missing trophy home.
“Finally we won the World Cup. Hard work beats talent. I thank my coach, my teammates and our fans. We had a dream, we wanted to win this World Cup and give it to our fans. We lost to Angola before but in the end we got what we deserved.”
Earlier, the Uzbek team defeated the Haiti team 4-2 in the third-place match. the 3-time World Champion was playing very well throughout the whole tournament. Haiti was solid in defense and effective in scoring goals, however that evening Pierre Rochenel’s squad had to accept the superiority of Uzbekistan.
The victory of the Turkish team is the result of systematic preparation over the last few years.
The Angolan team’s players left the pitch disappointed and the team’s captain, HilarIo Kufula, said, “We gave our best, but only one team can become world champions. It was a memorable event; I want to congratulate the Turkish team for winning the World Cup.”
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who attended and watched the final along with the guests of honour in the stands, presented the World Cup trophy to the Turkish team and their coaches, who were frantically celebrated by the spectators.
Arif Ümit, President of the World Amputee Football Federation (WAFF), summarised: “24 teams, 360 players, 315 goals and 10 days full of emotions were experienced in Istanbul and it was another milestone for our federation. The best teams from all over the world showed fantastic football. I congratulate Türkiye for winning the World Cup, Angola for second place and Uzbekistan for third place. But everybody won and I don’t want to miss to thank the local organising team and especially the referees, volunteers, and my team, all of them volunteer. The event was another step towards making amputee football even more popular in the world”.
Before the medal ceremony 4 awards were handed in:
Best Player – Ömer Güleryüz
Best Goalkeeper – Cacumba Sebastiao
Best Scorer – Ömer Güleryüz , however El Principe Redondo Richard, Saviola Charles both from Haiti , who scored as well 9 goals.
Fair Play – Team Poland