Four African nations are set to compete at the second annual NYC Consulate Cup. The soccer tournament organized by New York City Football Club is a unique community-based event, now in its second year, which was created to bring the international diplomatic community together.
Angola, Gambia, Nigeria and South Africa will play in the event, taking place on Saturday, October 14th at Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens. The tournament is being co-organized by the African Advisory Council.
Angola will take on Panama, Slovakia, Switzerland and El Salvador in their pool, while Nigeria will go up against both Mexico and the United States in their group. Meanwhile, South Africa’s pool includes two countries with legendary soccer history – Argentina and Germany. The draw for the tournament was hosted at the Australian Consulate-General, and the Australian team was paired alongside Gambia in Group A.
Helirio Rangel, who works at the Angolan Consulate, was at the draw to represent his country. “We appreciate the initiative from NYCFC and are honored to participate in the event,” said
Rangel who will play for the Angolan team. “With the tournament we hope to help promote and inspire a healthy and active lifestyle not only for the participating members, but also for the youth of the city.”
The African teams competing at this year’s Consulate Cup will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of Burkina Faso, who won the inaugural competition last year after beating Mexico in the final.
Mohammed Mardah, former Chairman of the African Advisory Council, said, “I think it is appropriate that an African nation won the Inaugural Consulate Cup, since the idea was born out of the African Advisory Council’s Annual African Nations Cup in the Bronx. These African nations come off that tournament with a lot of energy. I believe that another African nation would take the Cup again this year, so we can maintain the bragging rights for another year. More importantly, we hope that over the next few years, with the World Cup coming to North America, we would have more nations competing, and maybe even an All Star team playing against the World Cup winner in a friendly.”
The funds raised from the tournament help to grow the New York City Soccer Community Cup, an initiative that makes soccer more accessible to youth in New York’s most underserved communities.
