Pitted against the Shaheens, the Western All Stars won the first ever Pak-Asia Cup, held over the weekend at the Essendon Football Club headquarters in Tullamarine.
The Western All-Stars, an informal side of young players from multicultural backgrounds living in the western region, powered clear in the second term to beat the Shaheens, a team made up of expat Pakistanis living in Melbourne.
There are approximately 40 participants in the Western All-Stars, aged between 20-25 years of age and they have in the past played other multicultural outfits such as the Southern Dragons and the Cambodian Buffalos. The Shaheens FC on the other hand was a side of mainly inexperienced footballers who have come from a background playing cricket. The club was formed in August of 2013 and is in the process of preparing for the 2014 AFL International Cup which will be played this August.
These two young clubs met for the first time this weekend. While the first few minutes of the game were close, the All Stars managed a game-defining lead in the second term.
Both teams showed sportsmanship and were often seen helping each other off the ground after packs were formed. Clearly, it was Australian football that was the winner in the end.
Published in The Indian Sun (Indian Magazine in Australia)
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