People to People Links Strengthened Through Football


The second Timor Sea Cup football tournament was recently played in Dili, Timor-Leste with the host country and defending champions emerging victorious once again overcoming their opponents, Northern Territory and Nusa Tenggara Timor (NTT) in a dominating performance. Now known as the Conoco Phillips Timor Sea Cup, the inaugural tournament, an Under 18 men’s football tournament between the three near neighbours being NTT, Timor-Leste and the Northern Territory, was held in Darwin, 16 – 20 September 2008 and was a great success.
 
 The tournament was an idea conceived by the political leaders of the three jurisdictions. They wanted to put forward an initiative to further strengthen the relationships in the region.  As Head of the NT delegation, Darwin City Council Deputy Lord Mayor and Football Federation Northern Territory (FFNT) Director Mr. Fred Marrone stated at the opening function, “football, the world game is seen as a great way to reinforce people to people links”. These links were further strengthened in Dili.

A further enhancement of the relationship between the NT and Timor-Leste jurisdictions has been the offer for two Timorese players to attend football’s NTIS program on a four week scholarship. This initiative was announced by the NT’s Chief Minister Mr. Paul Henderson whilst on a business delegation in Dili last year.

The Cup was run over four days with host nation Timor-Leste dominating winning both of their games; 5-0 against Northern Territory and 3-0 against neighbours NTT. The NT side performed well in both games and picked up a credible 0-0 draw against NTT.

Mr. Marrone had the honour of starting the Cup with a ceremonial kick off. Fred showed that he still possesses a beautiful strike of the ball that brought back some fond memories for him.

The NT squad was mainly made up of Northern Territory Institute of Sport (NTIS) players, thus giving away a couple of years of experience to their opponents. The NT side were unfortunate in that both of its games were played in heavy monsoonal conditions, but this did not detract from the team’s performance. FFNT Technical Director and NTIS head coach Daymon Port was pleased with his players, “the boys showed great resilience, patience and played some excellent football. The squad is developing nicely and will be the squad that competes in next year’s Arafura Games. Opportunities playing in overseas international tournaments give our players a great experience and something that other state teams rarely experience.”

Timor-Leste were a very slick team and proved they had the skills and the speed to match it with many higher fancied opponents. The Timorese team were well coached, well disciplined, and played a superb brand of attacking football. Australia’s A-League clubs will no doubt look at Timor-Leste as a lucrative area to recruit players from. They thoroughly deserved to retain the Cup.

Apart from a below par first half against their more experienced hosts in the opening game the young NT side acquitted themselves very well. More importantly the team understood the significance of the opportunity given to them to represent the Territory in international competition and to develop their individual and team skills. 

It was clear that the NT players were grateful for the opportunity to compete in the Conoco Phillips Timor Sea Cup and returned the favour with a strong football performance, good behaviour, cross-cultural sensitivity and spirited participation in the welcome and farewell functions organised for them by our hosts. Timor-Leste Vice-Prime Minister Guterres, Australian Ambassador Peter Heyward and Kupang Vice-Mayor Mr. Daniel commented to the NT Government’s Director of Asian Relations Mr. Brendan Doran that they were impressed by the NT boys’ performance. Coaches Daymon Port and Matt Ross did a fine job with their first year intake of the NTIS program and the best thing about this squad is that all of them will be available for the 2011 Conoco Phillips Timor Sea Cup to be staged as part of the Arafura Games in Darwin.
The Football Federation of Timor-Leste (FFTL) did a wonderful job staging the Cup. Under the leadership of FFTL President Mr. Francisco Ley the event provided many memories and highlights. The cutting of the cake by the three captains during the opening function proved to be unique as all three captains were of East Timorese descent. The NTT team proved to be the ‘calypso kings’ of South-East Asia showing off some slick moves on the dance floor. NT coach Daymon Port also showed that he was no slouch on the dance floor showing he should be on the next series of Dancing with the Stars!

The undoubted highlight of the 2010 Cup was the attendance of FFNT’s very own Mr Paul Parker. The former Manchester United player who has also played for England in the 1990 World Cup enthralled all with his insight into the game and his experiences. Paul led a coaching conference that was attended by many Timor-Leste coaches as well as coaches from the other two jurisdictions. This proved to be invaluable with all attendees walking away with a much better knowledge of the game. We also soon found out that Manchester United has a huge following in all three jurisdictions.

Paul was also invited to address the large crowd of over 7,000 people on the final day of competition.  This raised the NT profile and has been the subject of favourable media publicity not just in Timor-Leste but in the South East region generally. 

To conclude, Football does offer huge opportunities for all Australians and Territorians to compete in many international events. The Conoco Phillips Timor Sea Cup is one such event. We are all grateful and appreciative of the contributions made by the sponsors. Conoco Phillips has come on board and shone great faith in this very important tournament. Latitude Travel has been very supportive of the Cup as has Yap Property Investments Pty Ltd.