The atmosphere was electrifying due to a large number of spectators, who were not only JT employees but also family members and retired employees who all pitched in on a fun-filled day with music, entertainment and the quality of football on display. Teams battled it out for the top prize of bragging rights and of course – The World Cup trophy.
The competition was an interdepartmental affair between the various departments within the Bellville office. The event ran simultaneously with the FIFA World Cup 2022, which was the theme for the tournament. As such, all departments represented an official world cup team. A total of eight teams, divided into two groups of four, took the field to compete to win the world cup. Group A and Group B were drawn as follows:
Semi-finalists were Group A winners Cameroon versus Group B Runners-up Spain and Group B winners were France versus Group A Runners-up Germany.
Both semi-finals saw the underdogs coming out on top when Spain and Germany won their semi-final matches to progress to the Finals which was nothing short of amazing! Germany opened the scoring with a close-range strike by Barend ‘Bear’ Sylvester.
Spain has been pressing for an equalizer when Marlon Stevens pulled off something magical, hitting the ball from a distance into the top corner and leaving spectators stunned.
Germany conceded yet again as Spain converted from the penalty spot with a goal by Emaniel ‘Maanie’ Malaula 2-1 to Spain; as the game headed to a climax, Germany then equalised with a stunning strike from Rendani Matamela to draw the game into a penalty shoot-out.
Penalties tend to be nerve-wrecking, both teams kept their cool, but Spain came up triumphantly when they beat the Germans on penalties 3-2 to become John Thompson’s World Cup Champions 2022.
“Congratulations to 70 TON (Spain) for winning the competition. I would like to thank the organizers especially Francois Belelie, Carey-Ann Richards, Ganief Petersen, Quinita Abrahams, Jack Bredenkamp (First Aider), all the employees and their families for helping with the braai. A big thank you to all the captains for keeping their players and fans intact, and lastly, a special thank you to our CEO John-Paul Andre for sponsoring the event and Co-Sponsor Mantuba Nkhoesa from Metropolitan that supplied
food and beverages to all our players and spectators. It has been an amazing team-building experience Thank You JT” – Dean Permall