Everton and Liverpool’s involvement on the international stage may be over with the Premier League on the horizon, but international football doesn’t stop on Merseyside thanks to the World in One City Football Tournament.
Sixteen nations within the Merseyside community were formed as part of the competition and has now been whittled down to four.
You may or may not have seen the quarter-final scenes as both Yemen and Somalia went the distance, only to be separated by the lottery of a penalty shootout. Yemen’s goalkeeper stood firm to deny the Somalians and those in support of the Yemeni’s flooded onto the pitch in celebration.
The four groups saw two teams in each bracket progress into the knockout stage - as with any UEFA or FIFA tournament - but the representatives of each nation have the opportunity to represent their country and singing their national anthem prior to kick off.
But besides the football on show, there is another motive behind the tournament, that being to illustrate the culture on show in the city.
“It's been a long 2 years and many people have had difficult times. There hasn't been an opportunity for families to get together, adults to get together or people to attend football matches,” tournament organiser Imad Ali told the Liverpool Echo.
“Many of the communities that have entered the competition don't have a huge collective presence in the city, so this is the chance for them to be 'on the map' in a way and for other communities to engage with them.
“This isn't going to stop with football, for us we will be running these events but there's no reason why it won't become a networking facility.
“There's also mental health, health and wellbeing, socialising and all of the other things that have deteriorated during the pandemic. The tournament started on the day the restrictions were relaxed which was fitting.”
As the competition reaches its business end, the excitement and anticipation is at breaking point, much to the credit of its organisers.
The 31-year-old added: “f Ithis period of time has taught us anything, it's that nothing is promised and that we are all in the same fight against the issues that life throws at you.
“It feels like we could have a fresh start after the pandemic so to hold an event where we can all be together and we can blend and splash our culture and communities together is the perfect way to begin that.
“We all have so much history and community interest in common so its the time to bring it all together as one and celebrate that moving forward.”
Poland, Sudan, England, the Rest of the World, Bangladesh, Ghana, Zimbabwe and Eritrea all bowed out in the group stages.
With Libya and Congo progressing and ultimately falling in the last eight as Yemen followed West Indies and Nigeria into the last four with Jamaica joining them, all looking to reach the showpiece match.
The final, which is on Sunday, may well bring its record crowd as well the noise and allegiances at Jericho Lane football hub.
Something that poses the perfect of way to welcome the latest season of their beloved clubs, but for the moment, the stars of the respective countries are eyeing not only World in One City history, but the city and country pride is on the line as they look to be the crowned inaugural winners.
