Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
The Unofficial Football World Championship was back in action over the weekend and holders Bolivia have managed to keep hold of their crown after a first defence against the Central American nation of Nicaragua.
These two sides play a double header with the return tie taking place on Wednesday, to the untrained eye it may well only be a pair of friendlies but followers of this ongoing thread will know that there is much more at stake with the UFWC bragging rights very much up for grabs.
The two sides were split by just a solitary goal in Nicaragua and it was Gilbert Alvarez who scored it, his strike from inside the box came just before the turn of the hour and that was enough to make sure that Bolivia left with the win and more importantly the title of Unofficial Football World Champions.
Nicaragua will look to get their revenge in a couple of days time although with Bolivia having home advantage they will certainly be the favourites, then again stranger things have happened when competing for this crown as fans of Bolivia will attest to.
It was they who upset Argentina in the previous round of World Cup Qualifiers to end back in March to not only cause doubt over whether Lionel Messi and company will make it to Russia but to also end their fifth UFWC reign in the past four years.
Below is the winning goal – although it must be said the camera work is absolutely farcical. In three replays it hardly even shows the winner, a combination of a ropey cameraman and all manner of sponsors emblazoned on the screen means that you can hardly even see the action which is taking place.
And here are the list of holders since we started tracking it back in 2011
North Korea
Sweden
Argentina
Uruguay
Costa Rica
Netherlands
Argentina (2)
Germany
Argentina (3)
Brazil
Colombia
Argentina (4)
Chile
Uruguay (2)
Mexico
Chile (2)
Paraguay
Uruguay (3)
Chile (3)
Argentina (5)
Bolivia
