Why the 2006 street football trophy carried Andrés Escobar's name
The Copa Andrés Escobar was played for in Berlin in July 2006. Who Escobar was, how he died, and why street football chose to remember him.
The 2006 archive
streetfootballworld festival 06
Berlin-Kreuzberg, 2–8 July 2006: the 22 teams, the MYSA vs KickAIDS final, the Copa Andrés Escobar and the legacy of the first street football world festival.
From 2 to 8 July 2006, while the FIFA World Cup was being played across Germany, Mariannenplatz in Berlin-Kreuzberg hosted a different kind of tournament. Teams from social projects on five continents, with players aged 16 to 21, competed for the Copa Andrés Escobar in five-a-side matches of 12 minutes. It was organised by the streetfootballworld network as part of the World Cup's arts and culture programme.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier opened the festival on 2 July. It was dedicated to the Colombian defender Andrés Escobar, who was murdered after scoring an own goal at the 1994 World Cup. The teams from Ghana and Nigeria could not take part because German authorities refused their visas.
In the final on 8 July, Mathare Youth Sports Association (Nairobi, Kenya) drew 2–2 with KickAIDS (Pretoria, South Africa) and won 4–3 on penalties.
The teams
22 teams played; 2 were prevented from travelling.
Africa
| Organisation | City | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mathare Youth Sports Association | Nairobi | Kenya | Champions |
| Diambars | Dakar | Senegal | |
| Football for Peace | Kigali | Rwanda (with Burundi, DR Congo) | |
| KickAIDS – PDP Sports Club | Pretoria | South Africa | Runners-up |
| Search and Groom | Lagos | Nigeria | Denied visas |
| Play Soccer | Accra | Ghana | Denied visas |
Asia
| Organisation | City | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peres Center for Peace | Tel Aviv | Israel / Palestine | Mixed Israeli-Palestinian team |
| Learn & Play: Street Football Future | Kabul | Afghanistan |
Europe
| Organisation | City | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Street League | London | England | |
| Streetfootball Norway | Oslo | Norway | |
| Straßenfußball für Toleranz | Potsdam | Germany | |
| Football Friends Balkan | Belgrade / Skopje | Serbia, Macedonia | |
| Sokak Ligi | Ankara | Turkey | |
| fx united | Berlin | Germany | Hosts |
| SASI Barka | Poznań | Poland |
North & Central America
| Organisation | City | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Soccer in the Streets | Atlanta | USA | |
| Vive Fútbol | San José | Costa Rica |
South America
| Organisation | City | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Defensores del Chaco | Buenos Aires | Argentina | |
| Centro para el Desarrollo de la Inteligencia | Asunción | Paraguay | |
| Escuelas Deporte y Vida | Lima | Peru | |
| Centro Cultural San Isidro | Santa Cruz | Bolivia | |
| Fundação EPROCAD & Projeto Jovem Cidadão | São Paulo & Maranhão | Brazil | |
| CHIGOL | Santiago | Chile | |
| Fútbol por la Paz | Bogotá | Colombia |
Sources
- RSSSF – streetfootballworld festival 06 (Hans Schöggl, 2006)
- Auswärtiges Amt – Steinmeier eröffnet Straßenfußball-WM in Berlin-Kreuzberg (30.06.2006)
- The Daily Star – Kenya win street football title (10.07.2006)
- taz – Der Mariannenplatz war bunt
- Mediotiempo – Inauguran el primer campeonato de fútbol callejero en Berlín
Festival 06 stories
Diambars: the Senegalese academy that came to Berlin
Founded in 2003 by Patrick Vieira and other players, Diambars mixes school and football in Saly, Senegal. It played at Festival 06 and won the 2013 league.
The Festival 06 final: MYSA vs KickAIDS
On 8 July 2006 a Nairobi youth project and a Pretoria club met on Mariannenplatz for the Copa Andrés Escobar. It finished 2–2 and went to penalties.
Mariannenplatz: the Kreuzberg square that hosted street football's world festival
A 19th-century square by the former Berlin Wall, a squatters' anthem and an immigrant district: why Mariannenplatz suited the 2006 street football festival.
Mathare Youth Sports Association: the champions of 2006
How a clean-up of a rubbish-covered pitch in Nairobi in 1987 became Africa's largest youth sports organisation and the 2006 street football world champion.
One team, two peoples: the Peres Center squad at Festival 06
In Berlin in 2006 the Peres Center for Peace fielded a team of Israeli and Palestinian players. The story of that team and the sports programme behind it.