There were tears, a self-inflicted sending off and plenty of referee whistles to remind each participant of "fair play."
Over the weekend, the German Trade Office sponsored the "World Cup 2006 in Taipei," an event introducing local children to soccer and their parents to German products ranging from pretzels to Bitburg beer.
Held on a carpeted indoor soccer pitch in the food court of Core Pacific Mall, a dozen children and a few walk-ons were put through the paces of a normal football practice, including calisthenics, warm-up drills and a brief lesson about all the places with which you could strike a ball -- head, foot and heel.
Their inexperience showed. One pig-tailed girl, standing no taller than the sponsors' signboards encircling the pitch, simply had trouble hanging on to the ball.
Across town, at another promotional event sponsored by McDonald's, children were given another introduction to soccer, this time having the opportunity to crawl inside an oversized soccer ball in the plaza outside Shinkong Mitsukoshi building at Warner Village.
The hot weather and large crowds meant that few were "lovin' it," according to Shu Ming, a cameraman for China Television System. "Basically, I thought it was pretty stupid, but they say this activity is popular overseas."
Back at Core Pacific, a sack full of size 3 balls (a slightly smaller, less bouncy version of the size 5 used in international competition), a half-dozen cones and three instructors from Master Football Academy helped guide this untrained soccer side through their first-ever practice.
"For children under the age of 10, I think the most important thing is to make them have fun. We don't try to make it too competitive," said Michael Chandler, an instructor and academy partner.
The academy has approximately 100 students taking part in weekly practice sessions in Neihu (
"When we started two years ago, many people told us to forget it because local people don't like sports and don't want their children involved. What we have found is lots of parents are opening up and want to get their kids involved because they know sports are good," Chandler says.
As it turns out, youth soccer is growing rapidly in the Taipei area, with 28 teams and more than 250 young players taking part in the recently completed Mini World Cup organized by the academy at the Chungshan Soccer Stadium.
Another event Chandler is responsible for is this weekend's Summer Cup at Dajia Riverside Park (postponed from an earlier date because of rain), which will bring together 16 expatriate teams from around the country.
With soccer all around, some remain unconvinced.
David Wang, an eight-year old who sat with a bemused look on his face watching other children in this youth clinic, says he has no interest in soccer, and would prefer to be at home playing with his toys or, as he puts it, "swimming."
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