Children demand Respect

Ten-day trip
The ten-day, 4,500km trip was undertaken under the auspices of the German-Czech Football School (DTFS), a grassroots youth project organised either side of the German-Czech border whose activities have already received UEFA's backing. The main destination was the Black Sea city of Odessa, where the team played in the Black Sea Cup, as well as Ukraine's capital Kiev, the Ukranian city of Lvov and the Polish city of Krakow.

Friendly fixtures
The DTFS-sponsored team played friendly matches against Ukrainian clubs FC Dynamo Kyiv and FC Karpaty Lviv, and gave a fine account of themselves in the Black Sea Cup against teams from Ukraine, Russia and Moldova, before going down to a narrow 2-1 defeat in the decisive match against host club FC Chornomorets Odesa.

Respect agenda
The team captains showcased UEFA's Respect campaign at the event - highlighting respect for opponents, referees and officials - and the tournament showed just how teams of different cultures can come together under the common banner of football. "For many of the children, it was their first encounter with youngsters of the same age from other cultures which are located thousands of kilometres away," said DTFC head Gerald Prell.

Exciting mix
Mixed multi-cultural and multi-language teams were formed for impromptu beach matches, and the hotel saw countless meetings where the youngsters learned about each other's countries and cultures, aided by excellent Ukrainian hospitality. "It was no surprise that so many new friendships were forged in double-quick time," said Prell.