SAITAMA, JAPAN  TOUR - March 26 to April 1 2002

QUEENSLAND RUNNERS UP  

Queensland  0    Saitama 1

Saitama Prefecture, Japan, is the sister state to Queensland. Its prefectural capital is Saitama City. It will host  2002 FIFA World Cup games and a semi-final.

Through Queensland Primary School Sport, they  invited a Queensland representative side to compete in an international soccer carnival with the final to be played in the newly constructed  (64 000 seat) stadium.

Teams were  invited from New Zealand, Mexico, China, Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea and The United States of America as well as  local Japanese teams.

The QUEENSLAND  TEAM (TEACHERS AND STUDENTS) was made up of 16 boys and four teachers.

The teams were grouped into eight pools of three teams at the start of competition. The top team in each pool then progressed to the next round. To play in the Saitama Stadium, teams had to be in the final or playing for number three or four spot.

Queensland's aim was to play in the stadium and the team went one better by qualifying for the final.

The final was equally poised, but with three minutes to go Saitama scored the only goal of the match.

While the Queensland boys may have been disappointed to have missed out by a few minutes they did not leave the field disgraced. They were the best of the overseas' teams having gotten into the second round with Thailand and then going that one step further to be in the final.

The tour to Japan was a success. The organisers of the Saitama competition are to be congratulated for a great and friendly competition.

The mayor and the people of the town of Ogano cannot be thanked enough for the hospitality and friendship they bestowed on the Queensland team while the boys were billeted there.

The Queensland Team with their runners up medals and the Mayor of Ogano.

The Mayor and some of the homestay  parents came to support the team at the 

 playoff venue and at the Saitama Stadium.

RESULTS

1st ROUND        QUEENSLAND 6     FUKAYA (JAPAN) 0

                          QUEENSLAND 6    KOREAN RESIDENTS 1

2nd ROUND        QUEENSLAND 1    WEST OF URAWA (JAPAN) 1

                   QUEENSLAND went through after penalty shoot out

3rd ROUND         QUEENSLAND 1    EAST OF URAWA (JAPAN) 1

(semi final)                QUEENSLAND went through after penalty shoot out

FINAL                QUEENSLAND 0    URAWA (JAPAN) 1