Baruch names first school-wide World Cup champ

On Sunday March 6th, 2005 a total of eight ambitious teams met in the Baruch main gym to participate in the quarterfinal rounds of the Baruch World Cup of Soccer. The event, which is sponsored by the Sigma Alpha Delta honor Society, attracted a large number of players and spectators alike. The tournament had started one week prior to March 6th, and two teams: former finalists, Albania, and newcomers, the invisible niners, were ejected from the tournament for engaging n a “world war.” These teams were noticeably invisible during Sundays games. The quarterfinal stage is the start of the knockout stage, and so it was a “win or go home” situation. The first team to be knocked out of contention was the lowl y-placed team ticker, which failed to tick in their devastating 9-1 loss to the high-riding Bulgaria team. In the second game, the fast moving GH Metros had to fight for their 2-1 victory over it’s the USA team. The third game was something of a walkover for the defending champs – the strikers, who trounced Garra Sud Americana 7-1. In the last quarterfinal mach, Team Georgia upset the very athletic Balkan Express Team.

The first semi-final between the International Strikers and GH Metros produced much fireworks as both teams were determined to emerge the victors. GH Metros struck first giving the defending champions the job of playing catch-up. They managed to catch up and pass the GH Metros, thanks to two quick goals by Caner Yilmaz . Two of the most amazing performances were displayed by the two goalkeepers, in the end, it was International Strikers 2, GH Metros 1.

In the second semi-final between the surprise Georgia and the Bulgarians it was again Georgia, stunning the high-riding Bulgarians with a 3-0 win. This game set up a very keen game for the third place playoff between Bulgaria and GH Metros.

The third-place playoff was overly exciting, producing goal after goal, after 15 minutes the game was locked at 5-5. In the end, thanks to some expert goalkeeping and some thunderous striking by GH metros, they prevailed 7-5 in the end.

The final game between Georgia and the International Strikers was not exactly a “David vs. Goliath” match-up. In fact, in the initial stages, it was Georgia that’s was making the more profitable plays. At the end of regulation time, the game was locked at 3-3, this necessitating the feared penalty-shootout. In this regard, the International Strikers won 6-4 on penalties.

In the end, GH metros took home the third place trophy, Georgia won the second place title while International Strikers retained their hold on the Baruch World Cup of Soccer.

The most valuable player was Cristian Church , the goalkeeper of the International Strikers team.