{"id":259166,"date":"2019-10-04T12:43:34","date_gmt":"2019-10-04T15:43:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/?p=259166"},"modified":"2019-10-04T16:06:27","modified_gmt":"2019-10-04T19:06:27","slug":"lebanon-national-team-to-play-refugee-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/lebanon-national-team-to-play-refugee-cup\/","title":{"rendered":"Lebanon national team to play Refugee Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"

S\u00e3o Paulo \u2013 Athletes from Lebanon, Venezuela, Tanzania, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Cameroon, South Korea, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Togo, Colombia, Haiti, Gambia, Angola, Nigeria, Niger and Benin are playing the 6th<\/sup> Refugee and Immigrant Cup. The tournament opens this Friday (4) at the S\u00e3o Paulo Soccer Museum.<\/p>\n

The actual matches begin on Saturday (5), with the quarterfinals on Sunday (6), semifinals on the 13th<\/sup>, and the final on October 20. Lebanon, the only Arab team playing this year, is going up against Mali Saturday (5) at 10:30am. The first Saturday match will be Guinea-Bissau vs. Tanzania, at 9am. Next up is South Korea vs. Congo, at 1:30pm; Togo vs. Colombia, at 3pm; Haiti vs. Gambia, at 4:30pm; Angola vs. Nigeria, at 6pm; and Niger vs. Benin, at 7:30pm. Check out the event’s Facebook page<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This edition is themed Take a minute to listen to someone who left their country<\/em>. Over the last few months, matches were played in Bras\u00edlia, Curitiba and Recife. This is the biggest sports integration project for refugees and immigrants, involving some 20 national teams and 200 amateur players.<\/p>\n

The event was created by NGO \u00c1frica do Cora\u00e7\u00e3o<\/em><\/a>, with backing from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Brazil (ACNUR<\/a>) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM<\/a>).<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving a project of this kind is of the utmost importance in S\u00e3o Paulo, the biggest metropolis in Brazil, with the most refugees and immigrants and the most diversity. Through soccer we are able to convey many messages, because it brings together every race, color and social strata, on the stands and in the field. We organized the tournament to show that refugees have something to offer in many aspects,\u201d said Refugee Cup coordinator Braima Man\u00e9.<\/p>\n

Aside from the soccer, there\u2019ll be a culture and food fair on Sunday (6), from 10am to 7pm, also in Vila Clementino. The free-admission fair will feature exhibitors from several countries, including Syria and Morocco; music, dancing, conversations, product showcases, typical foods etc. \u201cWe have created this space so refugees can show their talent, to get them to not be invisible. NGO \u00c1frica do Cora\u00e7\u00e3o is on a struggle to integrate, advise and help with whatever it can,\u201d said Man\u00e9.<\/p>\n

Lebanon<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
El Zein (3rd, L to R, kneeling down) e and the Lebanese national team<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hassan El Zein is the captain of the 17-strong Lebanese team (pictured above<\/em>). Last year, Lebanon lost its second match in the Cup and got eliminated. \u201cWe practice every Tuesday in [S\u00e3o Paulo neighborhood] Pari,\u201d said El Zein, who\u2019s lived in S\u00e3o Paulo for six years now and speaks Brazilian Portuguese very well. \u201cI still have a bit of an accent, but I work at an electronics store where the staff is all Brazilians, so I learned quick,\u201d said the native of Tyre, in southern Lebanon.<\/p>\n

The Lebanese team is made up of immigrants who arrived in Brazil one, six, seven and even ten years ago, according to El Zein. Four of them are fluent in Portuguese. \u201cI came to Brazil because there\u2019s no work back in our country. You can\u2019t make a living there, there are no opportunities,\u201d he said. \u201cBrazil is a welcoming country. Brazilians are good people. I consider myself a Brazilian.\u201d<\/p>\n

for six months with this team now. I hope we\u2019ll win, of course,\u201d concluded El Zein.<\/p>\n

Quick facts<\/strong><\/p>\n

Refugee Cup
\nMatches on October 5, 6, 13 and 20
\nRua Pedro de Toledo, 1.651 – Vila Clementino – S\u00e3o Paulo
\nFree admission<\/p>\n

Culture Fair
\nOctober 6, 10am-7pm
\nAlameda Ira\u00e9, 35
\nVila Clementino
\nFree admission<\/p>\n

Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Press Release<\/div>\n
Press Release<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Refugee and Immigrant Cup kicks off this Friday (4), with matches slated for October 5, 6, 13 and 20 in Vila Clementino, S\u00e3o Paulo. Lebanon is playing Mali at 10:30am on Saturday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2305,"featured_media":259149,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[109],"tags":[9586,11764,11765,11754,11281,9584,4608,2541],"class_list":{"0":"post-259166","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-lebanon-en","9":"tag-brahma-mane","10":"tag-hassan-el-zein-en","11":"tag-hassan-el-zein","12":"tag-immigrant-en","13":"tag-refugee-en","14":"tag-refugee-cup","15":"tag-soccer"},"wps_subtitle":"The Refugee and Immigrant Cup kicks off this Friday (4), with matches slated for October 5, 6, 13 and 20 in Vila Clementino, S\u00e3o Paulo. Lebanon is playing Mali at 10:30am on Saturday. ","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2305"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=259166"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259166\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/259149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=259166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=259166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=259166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}