A soccer tournament began in San Quentin to find talent for an official 21-man team.
It’s the first step in organizing and getting sponsored to play teams from the streets.
In Nov. 2 competition, Alianza Football Club defeated Team International, 3-1, and Street Kickers bettered San Quentin Football Club Internacionale, 2-0.
The four teams play each other twice. Who will make the official team is based on how well they perform in the tournament, which was scheduled to continue to mid-November.
“It’s a lot of talent out there, I must get them in game condition,” said Jose “Shorty” Vieyra. He and Carlos Sosa are part of the selection committee which will decide who makes the 21- man squad.
In the first game, Team International played Alianza. Venado “Orange Shoe” Ramirez of Alianza made a key play to gain the victory. He moved up the field, displaying a mean crossover, using only his feet. With the score tied 1-1, Ramirez went coast-to-coast right into a triple team. With eight minutes left, he kicked a no-look pass to 76-yearold Manuel Flores, who kicked a goal, leaving the score 2-1.
“They had to focus on our forward, leaving Flores open. Ramirez scored two goals,” said Ruiz.
Bruce “Rahsaan” Banks tried to will his team to victory in the final minutes, but fell short.
“We lost our focus on our primary objective—to win,” Banks said. “Our record is 3-1. I think Dexton Thetford, Vinh “Vinny” Nguyen, Garvin “JoJo” Robinson, John Windham, Jahid and myself are good enough to make the official team,” he added.
In the second game, defense players Eosebco Gonzales and Juan Espinosa led their Street Kickers to victory. They kept Internacionale scoreless.
Twenty-two minutes into the first half, Tury Avalos, Street Kicker’s power forward, broke through with a goal. “We created a front line play to score the first goal,” said his coach, Vieyra.
In the second half, Street Kicker midfielder Agustin Munoz kicked the ball past the defender, to the forward, who kicked it to the center, Eusebio Gonzalez, for another goal.
“My best player is Munoz. He’s the creator, he sees the open spaces,” said Vieyra.
After five games, Street Kickers led the tournament with a 4-1 record. “We’re playing against pretty good teams. We’re on top now, but that could change at any minute,” said Munoz.