Payatas girls bag bronze in World Fairplay Soccer

Somewhere in Europe, another bunch of young Filipina women — selected from an indigent community in Payatas in Quezon City — also made their countrymen proud on the global stage of sports.

Representing the Philippines, the Payatas-based squad defeated Mongolia via penalty kick, 3-2, in the battle for third place in the recent World Fairplay Soccer Championship in Prora, Germany.

The unique 3×3 tournament is played for three minutes per game in a double-round robin system to determine the rankings to advance to the next stages.

The Payatas girls ended up with 10 wins, 2 draws, and 2 losses to earn the 2nd seed after clashes with teams like USA, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Latvia in the group stage.

They beat Team USA, 3-0, but lost to eventual champion Latvia, setting the third-place battle with Mongolia, which earlier beat Italy in the other semifinal match.

Deutsche Soccer Liga and Mastercard supported the team’s trip and participation in the tournament.

“Now, with the football over, we look ahead to how to improve the lives of our kids off the pitch as well as on it as we think about returning back to the Philippines and coming back to normal,” said the statement of Fairplay For All Foundation during the delegation’s arrival on Tuesday.

Due to strict policy on child protection and vulnerable young adult policy, the foundation only provided the first names of the team members, namely: Althea, Ronalyn, Loren Joyce, and Aicele.

The boys’ team failed to advance to the quarterfinals.

Currently, Fairplay has 63 scholars who emerged from the foundation’s football program. An average of 200 kids play sports each week at the Payatas Sports Center.

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