Home

Limpopo grannies arrive in Russia for World Cup

Reading Time: 2 minutes

A new team has arrived in Moscow, keen to show that football is for everyone. And their team line up might just surprise you.

The renowned Limpopo grannies soccer team Vakhegula – Vakhegula has once again been invited to be part of the soccer World Cup. Ten members of the team jetted off to Russia this week where they will play in a veterans league championship.

Russia has laid out the top treatment for the world’s most famous footballers. But there are some new names in town.  “So you may think in a city like Moscow with its grandeur and splendour and multi-millionaire players – that football is a game for the select few … The South African Grannies Football Team.”

Many of the grannies have suffered abuse, poverty and neglect, but then they formed a team, inspiring others to fight for a better life.

A sponsor paid for players to take part in a 3 v 3 cultural exchange match in Moscow. Their opposition: the 2012 Russian Eurovision entry of singing grannies.

Vakhegula – Vakhegula have previously attended the World Cup in Brazil.

 

The soccer team has been around for more than a decade and comprises of female players aged fifty and above.

It was founded by SABC radio presenter and community worker Beka Ntsa’nwisi in the dusty streets of Nkowankowa township outside Tzaneen. It has now spread to various parts of Limpopo where grandmothers swop their household chores for a soccer ball.

Players have over the years participated in local and international tournaments.

Author

MOST READ