Hungary and Poland wow in Wrocław
|Image: HWC/Rebecca Corbett
The 12th edition of the Wrocław Cup took place in the market square in the Polish city on 15-17th July.
The men’s tournament saw 16 teams competing for the title and welcomed Homeless World Cup member teams from Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Lithuania and Kyrgyzstan. Hungary and Poland both had two teams competing.
The tournament also included additional Polish teams: Brat Albert, Hostel Debowiec and Friends, as well as a Ukrainian refugee team.
|Ukraine huddle together ahead of their match. Image: HWC/Rebecca Corbett
The women’s competition welcomed the Homeless national team from Austria. They took on the host Polish national team, as well as four additional Polish teams: Oława, One Passion One Love, Sleza Wrocław and Dream Team.
Hungary II beat Polish team Brat Albert 5-3 in the final to take the men’s title, while local Polish team Oława beat the Polish Homeless team 11-6 to win the women’s competition.
Both finals were refereed by former players. Serkan Yavuz who played for Austria at the Homeless World Cup in Melbourne in 2009 officiated the men’s final, while Sarah Frohwein who played for Wales at the Homeless World Cup in Oslo in 2017 took charge of the women’s final.
|Hungary celebrate winning the men’s tournament. Image: HWC/Rebecca Corbett
The third and fourth place match in the men’s competition was between Lithuania and Polish team Hostel Dębowiec. Lithuania was convincing in their victory, beating the local team 10-5 to take the third podium position.
One of the most dramatic clashes was between Poland and Denmark in the game contesting 5th and 6th place. After the full game, the score was tied 7-7 and went to sudden death penalties. In a dramatic shoot off, which started with both teams missing three consecutive penalties, Poland’s Patryk Białek scored his second penalty giving them the win. Poland finished 5th, while Denmark finished 6th.
|Polish players hug after beating Denmark in penalties for 5th/6th place. Image: HWC/Rebecca Corbett
|Polish player, Kamilla Wegrzyn. Image: HWC/Rebecca Corbett
The Wrocław Cup has become a regular fixture in the city’s calendar since 2009, however due to the pandemic the tournament hasn’t been able to go ahead since 2019.
After three years of missed tournaments, organiser Maciek Gudra welcomed the tournaments return: “The tournament is very important for me and the players. It’s very important for the city too, everyone in the city knows that homeless people play football on the market square in July.”
Maciek oversees all five of the Polish teams, both the Homeless national teams and the additional men’s teams which were made up of residents from the homeless shelter where he works as a manager.
“I am proud of my players and all the staff. We now have a women’s programme, giving women who are homeless, struggling with alcohol and drug addiction a chance to play football, that is fantastic.”
Kamilla Wegrzyn is one of the players who has benefitted from the women’s programme, while doing a rehabilitation programme for her alcohol addiction, she started playing football. It became a vital part of her recovery.
“Football gives me hope, a purpose in life and fulfilment. I have been sober for one and a half years and I am proud, I can do everything. Football, running, writing – I can do it all. This is my new life.”
You can see the full scores from the tournament below. Sadly, due to visa limitations, Kyrgyzstan had to leave after play on the Saturday. As they were unable to finish the tournament, they finished in last place.
All of the games were live streamed, you can watch them here.