Given their team name, Lekip Gros Ventre (LGV), newcomers to the Champions Cup Tournament, are obviously taking a fun approach to the competition. Team captain, Kenny Woo, says that he hand-picked players to bring back the spirit of Football Du Dimanche, the friendly Sunday football events in Brunswick in which many players (including those participating in the Champions Cup) had their debut in Mauritian football in Australia.
At the end of Football Du Dimanche, to which the Champions Cup Tournament can trace its origins, its members were disbanded and some chose to participate in other football-related events whilst some left their boots hanging to collect dust. Kenny Woo specifically chose some of the original members of Football Du Dimanche, in particular the older players who have not participated in football-related events for quite a while. These players are working class men who were scattered in offices throughout Melbourne, but they now have been united by LGV:
Kenny Woo (captain)
Kevin "Chinese Tiger" Leung
Patrice Hung
Didier Ng
Jean-Yann Ng
Jason Woo
Kristopher Choo
Kenny Woo jokes that the team name is derived from the "love handles" they have acquire since hanging up their boots. All of the LGV players are new to the Champions Cup, except for Kevin "Chinese Tiger" Leung. The Chinese Tiger formerly played for Nothing to Lose in the Winter 2009 Tournament of the Champions Cup in which Nothing to Lose had a dismal campaign and finished last. Their only saving grace was a 3-1 victory against Tombeau Bay FC in the qualifying round. There are rumours of Nothing to Lose participating in the Champions Cup again in this tournament, however, nothing has been confirmed yet.
It seems that LGV does not have any great aspirations for themselves in the tournament. Kenny Woo says that their aim is to minimize the number of fouls they receive. Surely they must have a hidden agenda to emerge as tournament champions behind their fun and friendly facade.
Just when they thought their football days were over and done with, the players of yester-year have been called once more. United as LGV, they are getting the dust off their boots and preparing themselves for a Champions Cup Tournament campaign. Can these big bellied men really bring back the spirit of Football Du Dimanche? Only the Spring 2009 Tournament will tell.
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