THE Art of War is an ancient Chinese military treatise attributed to General Sun Tzu, strategist and tactician in warfare and in one of the famous quotes taken from his exposition, he said: “Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win”. Tonight, the Buxton Community Centre ground comes alive with semifinals action in this year’s Kashif and Shanghai Football Tournament that would see Amelia’s Ward United face Pele in the opening game of the double-header and home side Buxton United and Alpha United clash
Everyone would want to exemplify Sun Tzu’s but in the end, only two team would go on to play in Tuesday’s final and attempt to win what is described as the ‘Holy Grail’ of local football.
This is the first time in any major tournament that Buxton United have gone this far - a place where their coach says they will get accustomed to since they don’t intend to look back.
“We don’t have anything to lose,” said Hebert McPherson, Buxton United coach, responding to a question asked about his team’s chances against Guyana’s #1 club.
“For Buxton, while we want to win, the players are happy and that’s the most important thing. This is our first time getting this far and we’re enjoying the moment and we’ll go out there to play our football,” McPherson said.
Buxton defeated a well put together BK International Western Tigers team by a 1 -0 margin, thanks to Michael Phyll, as thousands revelled throughout the village to celebrate the victory. But Phyll, the hero, said that the journey has only now begun. He noted that while his team spirit remains high, they’re keeping an eye on the ultimate prize of $4M.
Alpha United, with National coach Wayne ‘Wiggy’ Dover at the helm, assembled one of the most complete teams in the tournament.
They brought in experienced UK-based Guyana National captain Chris Nurse to the fold, to join the likes of Kayode McKinnon, Charles ‘Lily’ Pollard, Anthony Abrams, Dwight Peters and goalkeeper Ronson Williams along with an array of stars in the line-up.
But Buxton seemed unfazed by the big names in their opponents’ line-up, with Phyll stating that “it’s not the names that matter, it’s who goes out and play the best football on the night and my team really don’t have anything to lose, so we’re just going to go out and play the game”.
Meanwhile the second game is laced with satire as the two teams are facing each other for the second time in consecutive tournaments.
Last year, Pele overcame Amelia’s Ward to reach the final of the tournament where they fell short to Trinidad and Tobago’s Caledonia AIA.
Cecil Jacques, Pele club president that his side will be disappointing the Linden team and its supporters who believe in their side.
“I’m sorry but Pele will be disappointing you guys again,” exclaimed Jacques while boasting of his team’s experience up front – their striking line led by whom he described as one of the best strikers in the Caribbean – Gregory ‘Jackie Chan’ Richardson.
From all indications, all the teams seem set and ready to put on a show in Buxton and the turnout for the tournament on Boxing Day was just a prelude of what to expect tonight.