Perm Football team wins the international football cup in the UK

Photo: Anton Ipanov

Young football players team from Perm Specialized Sports School are back from Oxford, the twinned city of Perm, where they took part in the international football cup. 

The team started with 4 preparatory matches with the teams from Oxford and London, winning 3 of them. 

The Oxford United coaches hold  master-classes for the guest  team who were also able to see the football match played in the famous Stanford Bridge Stadium.  The Perm delegation headed by the school director Olga Gavrilova and their coach Anton Ipanov  was also received by the Lord Mayor of Oxford Colin Cook. 

The children from Perm also visited the crocodile farm, played rugby and cricket, went  sightseeing to see the historical center of Oxford and visit a number of Oxford |University colleges and famous places, including the dining room which featured in Harry Potter films, the park and the canal – the venue for  The  Boat Race between Oxford and Cambridge University teams. 

The Twin Cities Football Cup was held in Oxford on August 16-22, 2018, participants including  the teams   from the cities twinned with Oxford:  “Specialized Sports School of Olympic Reserve 2005” (Russia), «Summertown» and «Mansfield Road» (England),   «RW Lessenich» (Germany) and  «USV Leiden» (Holland).

The group tournament included 4 games , and the Perm team was the winner in all of them. 

The last day of the tournament featured the Perm team playing against a joint team of Germany and Holland. The regular  time ended with  the score of 0:0, but  after  the compensated time the Perm team won a victory scoring 0:1.    However, neither the organizers nor the teams wanted the game to end, so the penalty shoot-out was suggested as a special competition; where the Perm team proved their strength winning 5:3. 

“As always  the young people from Perm were an absolute delight – polite , friendly, helpful and of course marvellous sportspersons.  All of the festival helpers have remarked how wonderful the young Permians were. Bob Price, Leader of Oxford City Council, who   had an orienteering session with the Perm children, was very impressed with their skill and their enthusiasm! Another great exchange between our two cities”,  wrote Perm-Oxford Association members following the visit.