Dirty Play for Mud Soccer World Championships |
| Published: July 22, 2008, 10:43 am |
| Tags: offbeat news, bizarre, extreme sports, features, finland, hyrynsalmi, odd, sports, unusual, world swamp soccer championships |
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Thousands of men and women alike flocked to bog-fields in the spirit of sportsmanship of dirty play, barely able to move an inch in the knee to waist-deep mud at the 10th annual Mud Soccer World Championships for what was more like mud carnival revelry in pig pens than a fundamental world cup outside the tiny town of Hyrynsalmi, Finland. A goalkeeper prepares to throw the ball into play. Photo Reuters A natural swamp was converted into 22 playing fields each measuring about 197 x 115 feet (60 x 35 meters) — marked out with little more than yellow tape and plastic drainpipes. The game lasts for 2 periods of 25 minutes each on the swampy grounds, with 340 teams of 6 players — 5 field players and a goal keeper — for 880 matches, each wading, crawling, and trudging through the soaking mud fields. A player in the mixed division brings the ball downfield. Photo Reuters A player in the mixed division stuck in the mud. Photo Reuters Players from the mixed division [ Full article ] |
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