The final!

The Final

India 1 Tanzania 0

And so to the final match, between the speed of Tanzania (unbeaten so far) and the physicality of the big, powerful Indian team (whose only loss so far in the tournament was to BMS favourites Nicaragua).

Halfway through the first half, and huge controversy. A headed goal for India is ruled out by the referee, who indicates that the scorer had been in the goalkeeper-only area in front of the goal when he touched the ball. Still 0-0.

Moments later, and one of the Tanzanian defenders is sin-binned for a crude challenge on the Indian striker.

It’s all India, but they can’t get the final shot away, due to consistent pressure from the Tanzanian defenders, who seem always to be able to get a tackle in, just at the vital moment.

Into the second half, and with five minutes to go, India are awarded a penalty kick. They score, but the strike is chalked off by the referee for an infringment, meaning that it has to be retaken. With nerves of steel, they young Indian striker coolly slots it home, and India are ahead.

There’s panic in the Tanzanian ranks now. They’re a player down for the remainder of the match, the incident leading to the penalty having resulted in a sin-bin penalty for one of their players.

The crowd are chanting down the seconds now, and as the buzzer goes, India become the first ever Street Child World Cup champions.

They’re worthy winners on the day, and we have to hope that they’ll be back in Brazil in 2014 to defend their title.