By Emmerson Campbell
After four nights of intense ball weaving, $200,000, the first place trophy and bragging rights will be up for grabs when the winner of the Guinness Greatest of the Streets competition is decided tonight at the National Cultural Centre tarmac.
After winning their respective games on Tuesday night at the same venue, Back Circle (Team Guyana), the unbeaten Albouystown, Island All Stars and D’Urban Street have booked their places in the final four and have a chance to claim the winning spoils.
In the first semi-final match tonight D’Urban Street will tackle Guyana’s representative in the inaugural Caribbean Street Football Challenge, Back Circle (Team Guyana) at 20:00hrs while the Island All Stars will take on the unbeaten Albouystown team at 20:45 hrs.
The third place match will be played at 22:15 hrs followed by the final one hour later.
Admission to the event is free.
The second place team will receive $100,000 and a trophy, third place $50,000 and a trophy and fourth place $25,000 and a trophy. The other four teams which were knocked out of the competition on Tuesday night (Alexander Village, Broad Street ,Tiger Bay and West Front Road), will take home $15,000 each.
Team Guyana (Back Circle) is using the five-night exhibition tournament as a warm-up for the lucrative Caribbean Street Football Challenge which commences on June 21 on the National Park tarmac.
Team Guyana (Back Circle), which won the last Guinness Greatest of the Streets Football competition, will tackle other winners of the same tournament from Trinidad and Tobago, Haiti, St Lucia, St Vincent and Antigua during the three-night event.
The winner of the Caribbean Street Football Challenge will receive US$4,000, a multi-purpose playing facility and bragging rights as the best street football team in the Caribbean.
After a round-robin preliminary format, the top four teams will qualify for the semi-finals. The winners will do battle in the final game which will be staged on June 23. The first, second and third runners-up will receive US$2,000, US$1,500 and US$1,000 respectively.
