Ramallah- Mawaheb Al-Taif Football Junior Team returned home after taking part in the Copa Coca-Cola international football championship which was organized in the German Capital, Berlin. The team was nominated for such participation after winning the first place in Copa Coca-Cola Football Quintets Championship at the level of West Bank. Once the team arrived to Germany, Mawaheb Al-Taif joined 16 other teams from various parts of the world in a special training camp which was supervised by professional coaches to get them ready for Copa Coca-Cola International Championship organized early August.
The 110 players of the participating teams were assigned to more than one team that included different nationalities. Further, Coca-Cola International organized tours for the teams to get to know the key tourist landmarks in Germany. Many meetings were organized with German players. Mawaheb Al-Taif met with Benedikt Höwedes, footballer of the National Team of Germany and Joachim Löw, assistant coach of the German National Team which won the World Cup in 2014.
Hosni Assaf, Mawaheb Al-Taif Coach, confirmed that taking part in Germany’s games was the biggest achievement of the junior footballers to date as this trip served as a transitional phase for the team which is expected to pave the way toward professionalism and internationalism. “Our players did great in the matches, especially defense Ahmed Abu Kishk and Ahmed Assaf who scored three goals in one match. This trip encouraged the team founders and coaches to continue performing their duty in embracing and developing new junior talents. Therefore, we founded Mawaheb Al-Taif School at Kafr Laqif village in the district of Qalqilyato train the outstanding junior footballers”, added Assaf.
Assaf extended thanks to National Beverage Company Coca-Cola/Cappy (NBC) for its efforts in organizing Copa Coca-Cola local championship of 2015 and for allowing the young talents the opportunity to show and refine their skills and finally to take part in an international championship with a large number of excellent players and teams from different parts of the world, enriching the players’ experience and the coaches’ experience as they have been able to gain extensive experience to develop their performance.
On his part, Mr. Imad al-Hindi, General Manager of the National Beverage Company Coca-Cola/Cappy, commended “Mawaheb Al-Taif” team that proved its aptitude during Copa Coca-Cola Tournament 2015 in Palestine and Copa Coca-Cola Championship in Berlin. He highlighted the essential role of the coach and the spirit of Mawaheb Al-Taif team and persistence to achieve their ambitions and their strong will which helped them to make progress and succeed. Mr. al-Hindi affirmed the main responsibility of all the Palestinian institutions specialized in sports and the youth which aim at scouting, presenting, refining, and using young talents to contribute in raising the name of Palestine on the international sports map.
Mr. al-Hindi renewed NBC’s commitment toward the talented and excellent persons. He asserted: “we are keen to contribute to achieving the objectives of our young people, males and females, especially those who have talents that need sponsorship and refining. Experience proved that the Palestinian people have potentials and ambitions that only need embracing and support. Therefore, in all of our programs and initiatives, especially the sports related, we focus on providing the necessary support to children and the juniors and to become a true turning point that contribute to improving their talents.”
