Times running
out to Decide-Panyee Soccer Players
Intro:
In 1986 on a small floating
village in Thailand, Panyee, a group of boys watched many games of football
(soccer) on T.V. They wanted to play because they thought that they would make
a good team, and because they just wanted to play.
Can’t play sports here:
The boys did not give up on themselves and decided to become
soccer champions, even when people started to make fun of them. Someone said, “You
think that you can become champions here? Look at where you live.” The kids new
that the person was right, just like I said they did not give up on themselves;
and built their own field to play on.
The tournament:
The group of boys practiced and played a lot. Then one day
one of the kids came over to the field with a flier to enter a tournament. The
boys did not know if they should enter, but entered since they thought, that
they were good enough. Before they went someone who was watching them, gave
them new clothes to wear. Some people came to cheer them on. The first game of
the tournament they won 2-0. They played so well, that they made it to the
semifinals.
At the semifinals:
At the semifinals it was raining and the other team was
really good; but to make it even worse the boys were getting their shoes filled
with water. By halftime they were losing 2-0. Then the boys came up with an
idea. They would take off their shoes. After the boys took off their shoes,
they played much better and scored two goals to even the score at 2, 2-2. They
lost when the other team scored last minute goal.
Conclusion:
In the end the boys came in 3rd place. Even though
they did not win the game, they were happy that they even got this far. The
important thing is that they inspired others to play soccer throughout the
world.
