A friendly engagement

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class John Carkeet IV | Players, coaches, officials and VIPs gather for a group photo minutes after a friendly soccer match between the Camp Arifjan Football Club and the Kuwait National Guard. The Oct. 6 match was the seventh meeting between the two rivals.  

CAMP ARIFJAN, KUWAIT

10.06.2013

Story by Sgt. John Carkeet IV 

143d Sustainment Command (Expeditionary)

CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait — Soldiers deployed to Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, engaged Kuwait National Guard troops on one of the world’s most contested battlegrounds: the soccer field.

The match, held Oct. 6, showcased the Camp Arifjan Football Club: 16 hardened veterans from playing at the high school, collegiate and club level. The squad squared off against its host nation’s counterparts in an 80-minute match that proved much tougher for Kuwait’s premier players.

The Kuwait National Guard dominated previous matchups by denying its American opponents from scoring a single point, but this proved challenging for the reigning champions as they struggled to maintain a one-goal lead for much of the first half.

First Lt. Steven Campbell, the executive officer for the 371st Sustainment Brigade’s Army Watercraft Company (Provisional), set the tone by scoring his team’s first goal with a breathtaking bicycle kick. Campbell followed this feat by scoring two more goals in the second half. Despite similarly impressive offensive plays and defensive stands by the Americans, victory belonged to the favorites with a final score of 6-3.

“There’s no doubt that we have incredible individual talent,” said Maj. John R. Moran, deputy director of the Directorate of Public Works for Area Support Group-Kuwait and head coach of the Camp Arifjan Football Club. “We just need to learn to play as a cohesive team, especially against the tactically superior Kuwaitis. The only way to do that is through practice.”

Due to time constraints, Moran could muster only three formal practices prior to the match; however, the team has scheduled three practices per week between now and its next game with its arch rivals.

The match’s competitive spirit was only overshadowed by the mutual respect and friendship between the countries.

“This game is a product of our lasting partnership with our Kuwaiti allies,” said Sgt. 1st Class Rivera, the noncommissioned officer in charge for the 143d Sustainment Command (Expeditionary)’s civil affairs section, as he watched the players shake hands and embrace one another. “It’s friendly engagements like these that show what we can accomplish when we play hard and work together.”

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See more action from the match on the 143d ESC’s Flickr Page at http://www.flickr.com/photos/143desc/

• Date Taken: 10.06.2013
• Date Posted: 10.10.2013 06:48
• Story ID: 114994
• Location: CAMP ARIFJAN, KW