Mini-EURO breaks barriers
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
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A UEFA-backed tournament in Germany and the Czech Republic brought children together.
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Mini-EURO 2008
The Mini-EURO 2008 tournament was organised by the Deutsch-Tschechische Fußballschule (DTFS), a project aiming to nurture talented young footballers across national borders in Frantiskovy Lazne (Czech Republic)and Rehau (Germany). The fifth such tournament saw 14 top clubs from eastern and western Europe gather under the tournament motto 'Against Racism and Violence'.
Multinational winners
A total of 250 children and 2,500 fans took part in the event, which was won by the team representing the DTFS after an exciting penalty shoot-out in the final against Belgrade club FK Crvena Zvezda. The DTFS team not only included German and Czech players, but also Turkish, Polish and Roma community youngsters - a multinational team epitomising the multicultural aspect of the tournament.
Respecting other cultures
Team coaches also held seminars in which they explained the work of their training academies, and exchanged views and training ideas. The youngsters and fans present at the Mini-EURO showed the importance of respecting other cultures, with players exchanging souvenirs from each other's countries. A sixth edition of the event is already being planned for next year.