The Liverpool football competition rivalling the Euros for excitement

Liverpool is hosting a football competition with possibly more excitement than the Euros.

The World in One City is at the quarter final stage with Nigeria playing Libya and Somali Team playing Yemen. The tournament sees 16 teams across the Liverpool City Region and from their national heritage compete for the title of World Champions.

Libya took the lead before Nigeria fought back to lead 2 - 1, only to concede a penalty on half time allowing Libya to level. Libya scored the only goal in the second half and reached the semi finals with a 3 - 2 victory.

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Libya manager Malek Elwerfalli told the ECHO: "We've been the underdogs, no one expected us to be here or expected us to go through the group stage. Here we are, the furthest we've been.

"The semi is going to be a big game; Yemen or Somali Team, we're looking forward to it. Why not, we could be champions, because we've got the players that can make it."

Nigeria's manager Timothy Ojapah said: "Wasn’t the result we wanted. Not using excuses, but four key players were injured.

"First half we were in control, gave away a stupid penalty dead on half time. Second half, we never recovered.

"Good luck to Libya, they wanted it more than us in the second half. Our players stopped playing for some reason. Onto next year."

The second tie was a mouth watering clash between Yemen and the Somali Team, who have given fans some of the most exciting games in their previous clashes. Before the match, Yemen manager Tarik Alawi said what he wants from his team: "Smash Somali to bits, smash them to smithereens."

The Somali manager said that he wants "Courage, determination and controlled aggression."

Almost from kick-off, the Somali keeper made an excellent save, palming the ball out for a corner, but it was the Somali Team who took the lead after five minutes. Roble Mohamoud struck a 20-yard free kick, a daisy cutter around the wall into the Yemen goal and on balance, the Somali Team narrowly edged the first half.

18-year-old Somali fan Abdi, said: "The first half was intense, the Somali Team is ahead (and) need to keep that up to win. The Yemeni team have stamina, so the second half might be theirs, but we will see how it goes."

Three minutes into the second half Yemen equalised. A crafty goal on the turn by Amro Radfani to make it 1 - 1. However, 10 minutes later The Somali Team’s Mohammed Abdi drove home a penalty; for a 2 - 1 lead, a lead they only kept for four minutes when Yemen’s Yusuf Mohsin levelled the game at 2 - 2.

A classic end to end tie, full of action and not without incident as passions were running high at times. Set for penalties with a minute to go The Somali Team were awarded a freekick; from an angle Bini Ibrahim let fly with (the goal of the match) a right foot shot curling around the Yemen wall into the top of the Yemen goal, sending the Somali team and their fans into ecstasy, and a 3 - 2 lead.

Within a minute, Fahme Ibrahim made it 4-2 with a tap in. With drama and excitement in the script from before kick-off, it lived up to expectations and a minute after the restart Yemen clawed a goal back to 4 - 3 after Nabeel Salam slammed home a penalty.

The final whistle took forever, with 10 minutes of stoppages played. When the whistle blew, it was the Somali Team who triumphed 4 - 3 to face Libya in the semi-final.

Somali manager Yusuf said: "Twice before they knocked us out. Today was very good, all that hurt over the last couple of years. We showed courage, determination and commitment, we showed that in abundance.

"We kept on taking the lead and kept on taking the game to them. The game plan we executed was absolutely emphatic, brilliant to the T.

"It's not played on a computer or a board. You have to go out there and take the tactics and use it. They did it brilliantly."

About semi-final opponents Libya, Yusuf added: "A fantastic team, we played them before the tournament. We won 1 -0, they were absolutely brilliant, they deserved more.

"We’ll take Libya, anybody, just game by game. Tough test till the end. This tournament is about tough tests and we're ready for the next one."

Next up; holders West Indies v Rest of the World, followed by the 2022 winners England v newcomers Guinea Bissau. The WIOC is poised for further excitement and great football, and if yesterday's games are anything to go by they’re certainly rivalling the Euros for spectacle.

For information visit WIOC HERE

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