The finals of the city stage in the tournament “Leather Ball” ended in Kazan

(KZN.RU, June 6). The finals of the city tournament “Leather Ball” ended in Kazan. Children's and youth football competitions ended tonight at the stadium “Tasma” by the decisive match among the children of the older age group (2002-2003 years of birth) between the teams of schools №179 of the Novo-Savinovsky district and №33 of the Aviastroitelny district of the city. Ilsur Metshin, the Mayor of Kazan, watched the match, which was full of acute game moments.

The match was held in an equal fight. Young footballers performed good attacks and often hit the gate but the defenders and goalkeepers of teams confidently coped with rivals. Schoolchildren of the Novo-Savinovsky district made more attacks than their opponent and it was productive. The team scored 2 goals in the opponent's gate.

In the second half of game, the players of the Aviastroitelny district made every effort to equalize the score. Non-childish emotions seethed on the field. The judge even had to intervene in the course of the game and show the players yellow cards. Despite all the efforts, boys from the school №33 could not score a goal, and the schoolchildren of the Novo-Savinovsky district celebrated the victory in the tournament.

“The match was difficult. Our whole team tried very hard and we are happy with the victory”, captain of the winners Artur Egorov shared his emotions after the game. As he said, all children seriously prepared for tournament training in a daily mode. “We only counted on winning. And we won”, said the captain.

Ilsur Metshin, the Mayor of Kazan, together with veterans of Kazan football Nikolay Markov, Nikolay Penzin, and Albert Fayzullin awarded winners. The Mayor thanked the young players for the beautiful game. Also, he noted the contribution of the tournament organizers and team coaches. “Thank you for the love to football, for the fact that every year the number of young players and new fields is growing. There is everything to love and play football”, said I. Metshin and handed the champions a passing cup.

Winners in other age groups were identified earlier as well. The team of school №70 of the Kirovsky district became the champion among the boys of 2004-2005 years of birth. Footballers of school №179 of the Novo-Savinovsky district won the final among the children of 2006-2007 years of birth.

Svetlana Vostrikova, the chairman of the Kazan Physical Culture and Sports Committee, Ilsur Hadiullin, the head of the Education Department, and heads of city districts’ administrations also took part in the awarding ceremony.

In total, 24 teams played in the finals of the city stage, they were winners of district stages in their age groups. More than 4 thousand young players, united in 203 teams, took part in competitions. The format of the tournament was changed this year. Now the teams are formed on the basis of comprehensive schools.

For reference

The all-Russian tournament “Leather Ball” is a children's and youth football competition in Russia. The first tournament was held in 1964 on the initiative of Lev Yashin, the legendary Soviet goalkeeper, and was conducted only in one age group. Today these competitions are held in three age groups. And it is the most massive football competitions in the territory of the Russian Federation. Since 2010, one age group among girls has been added to the competition.