GALLERY: The greatest soccer match ever
RUIMSIG – Education Through Soccer plays a game lasting 32 hours, 10 minutes and 30 seconds.
About 900 goals were scored in a record-breaking game that was nothing short of epic, lasting 32 hours, 10 minutes and 30 seconds, as Education Through Soccer (ETS) broke the Guinness World Record for the longest non-stop six-a-side soccer match.
“The guys and girls have played their hearts out to achieve this record and now they have achieved it,” smiled a proud ETS owner, Lloyd Tuffney. “A small club like ours and these – volunteers basically, coming and putting our name on the map – I’m speechless.”
As a bell rang and champagne was popped open on the side-lines to mark the breaking of the record, players on the pitch barely glanced up as they gave every ounce of energy they had to keep scoring goals for their teams: the Pacita Plastics and Jaguar Centurion, made up of the club’s women’s and social men’s teams.
The Ruimsig based non-profit organisation had hoped to beat the record, which was set at 30 hours, 10 minutes, by Healthy Hearts Alberta in Canada in 2010, and even extend it to 60 hours – from 6am on 3 November to 6pm on 5 November. But the heatwave in Joburg, and a few injuries, forced ETS to adjust their target. They broke the record at 12.10pm on 4 October, and stopped playing at 2.32pm that day.
“The heat smashed us yesterday,” said player, Wayne Pringle. “It was like running a marathon. Even during my breaks at night I couldn’t sleep, my mind was just racing, thinking about the game.”
ETS hoped to raise R500 000 to construct classrooms so youngsters could have homeschooling on the grounds. The classrooms would be converted into a gym in the evening for physical conditioning.
“We raised about R130 000 so it was not quite what we wanted but we have some long-term sponsors now,” said event organiser, Stuart Gray. He explained the two teams of 14 ensured through substitions that players regularly had breaks so each player was only on the field for about 15 hours. Tents were pitched for players to sleep in during breaks, and the ice bath was always occupied. Nevertheless, running watches showed some players ran 80km.
The scorekeeper and referee still need to correlate the exact number of goals, and who scored them.
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