It all came down to this! After a long search across Peninsular Malaysia and six stops in various states, the Nokia Defend Your Turf Challenge came to a head at the MidValley Exhibition Hall today. The Boys From Brazil were tasked with meeting the best that Malaysia had to offer in terms of young futsal talent. Our local teams were given the task of defending the pride of the nation against these foreign invaders who were determined to defeat Malaysia on home ground.
After a series of knock-out games in the morning, the Boys From Brazil took to the pitch to face the national champions and get our Malaysian team from Johor to answer the question “Can you Defend Your Turf?” Our local players took no prisoners and pushed the Boys From Brazil to the extreme during a grueling match that tested everyone’s skills. The final score after a hard fought match was 12-0 to the Brazilians.
“We have found that football, especially as part of the Nokia Defend Your Turf Challenge, rallied our nation’s youth,” said Barry Lee, Managing Director of Nokia Malaysia. “Our aim was to unite the nation and judging by the response we’ve seen at the regional tournaments and here today, we have certainly done that,” Lee added.
“Nokia believes that our youth see activities like this as a way to connect with their friends and to build strong ties. We, in turn, would like to help provide a healthy arena for that to happen. The Nokia Defend Your Turf Challenge is just one way for us to make that possible,” Lee continued.
Having arrived in Malaysia on Tuesday, this being the first of several stops in the region that will include Singapore and Thailand among others, the Boys From Brazil found themselves involved in various activities that stretched their skills.
The Boys From Brazil had the chance to train 50 under-privileged children in the skills needed to excel in this sport and gave them the inspiration needed to meet and surpass any obstacle. The interactive session drew much laughter and enthusiastic participation from the children.
There was also a session with the Boys From Brazil that was arranged to give the local women a chance to play against some tough competition and to get the Boys From Brazil ready to face the wrath of the nation. Two women’s teams came to the pitch and gave it all they had to show these foreigners that Malaysia was ready to take them to task.
“We wanted the Boys From Brazil to experience as many things as possible during their visit here. The games with the women’s teams and the under-privileged children was a chance to warm up their skills and have fun before facing the threat today,” Lee stated.
The Boys From Brazil constitute that country’s most promising new football talents and were handpicked by Futebol Profissional – the premier football association of Rio de Janeiro.
The Nokia Defend Your Turf Challenge Grand Finals results are as follows:
A single knock-out match was first played to determine which team qualifies for which category (either plate or champion category).
Then all teams play their remaining matches using a round-robin format to determine winner of their respective groups.
The Nokia Defend Your Turf Grand Finals (Plate Category)
- Laman FC (Penang) - Eden Pereira (Kedah) - White Devils (KL)
Laman FC (Penang) topped the Plate category to qualify to play against the local All-Stars teams.
Local All-Stars defeated Laman FC (Penang): 2-1
DYT Grand Finals (Champions' category)
- Playground FC (Selangor) - Mahsuri FC (Johor) - Lagenda FC (Terengganu)
Mahsuri FC (Johor) topped the Champions category to qualify to play against BFB.
Boys From Brazil defeated Mahsuri FC (Johor) with a score of 12-0
-By Jonathan Cheah
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