At the Cementos Progreso Stadium in zone 6 of the capital it took place this Saturday, June 13the grand final of the first edition of the Play for Your Neighborhood 2026 soccer tournament, initiative carried out on a non-profit basis in which more than 160 children’s teams from different sectors of the department of Guatemala participated.
According to Alejandro Dávila, operational director of the Juega por Tu Barrio program, this is the first edition of the tournament, which was divided into two categories and four regions. The first category was for minors born between 2012 and 2013, and the second, for minors born between 2014 and 2015.
“We had four regions in this first edition. The first region of the capital city played at the Brío Complex; the region of municipalities outside the capital, on the north side and Chinautla, played on the alternate fields of Cementos Progreso; region 3 played in Mixco, on the fields of Bosques de San Nicolás, and region 4 played on the Más Futbol fields, on the field of Santa Clara, Villanueva; Villanueva, Amatitlán, Villanueva played there Canales and all the surrounding municipalities,” said Dávila.
He also explained that 40 teams were formed for each region, for a total of 160 confirmed teams, coming from different areas of the capital, Mixco, Chinautla and Villa Nueva.
This Saturday’s activity began at 11 a.m. and ended around 6:30 p.m. In it, two finals were played for the title of Heroes of the Neighborhood.
The first in the 2012 – 2013 category between the La Academia and Palermo FC teams and the second in the 2014–2015 category between the Gigantes FC and Maracaná FC teams.
In the first game, the La Academia team won by 3 goals to 0 and won the 2012–2013 category championship. While in the 2014–2015 category the The Gigantes FC team won the penalty shootout (6-5) against Maracaná FC after they finished in regulation time with a score of 2 to 2.
The tournament’s scorers and goalkeepers of the teams that competed in the final were also highlighted for their excellent performance during the soccer event.
legends match
Prior to the finals, a match of Guatemalan soccer legends took place in which former professional players participated such as Martín Machón, Rigoberto Gómez, Claudio Rojas, Jorge Rodas, Edwin Westphal among others.
The result of the game was 2 goals in favor of the Leyendas del Futbol, and 4 goals in favor of the Juega por Tu Barrio team.
Dani Alves in the final
In the final of the Juega por Tu Barrio tournament, It had the special participation of former footballer and former Brazilian national team player Dani Alves who played for teams like FC Barcelona in Spain, Juventus Turin in Italy, Paris Saint-Germain in France, Unam Pumas in Mexico and Sao Paulo FC in Brazil.
The former Brazilian international expressed his satisfaction for participating in the activitywhere he also sent a message of encouragement and hope to the participants and the public who were present at the final of the tournament.
“Today is a very special day, because today is a day to play for the neighborhood and, when they called me, I was retired and they told me: ‘But we have to play for the neighborhood,’ and then I said: ‘Okay,’ and I took out my shirt. And today I come here to play for the neighborhood, but in a different way. I know that everyone here knows me for everything I dedicate myself to with soccer, with fame, with everything that most people dream of, but today I come here to to introduce myself that it is not only good to play for the neighborhood, but to play for the heavenly team, that there is no price for that, and I come today to invite the neighborhood so that you can also play for the heavenly team,” Alves stated during his presentation.
As Dávila explained, Alves’ participation was achieved thanks to the fact that the directors of the Juega por Tu Barrio project, Andrés Zaparolli and Mario Coyoy, are part of the congregation that brought the former soccer player to Guatemala to give his testimony this June 14 at its headquarters located on the highway to El Salvador.
Dani Alves’s participation, as well as the finals matches and the Football Stars match, were broadcast through Juega por Tu Barrio’s social networks.
Extraordinary work
Martín Machón former Guatemalan soccer player who played for professional teams in Guatemala, Mexico and the United Stateshighlighted the work carried out by the organizers of the Play for Your Neighborhood tournament. He stated that through sports values and perseverance can be instilled in all the children and adolescents who participated in the tournament.
“It seems to me that it is an extraordinary task. Play for Your Neighborhood, you have to, with what you can, do your bit and on our part it is to be able to come, play a little soccer, especially the parents remember you and have a happy time and that children and youth can see that through sport they can really get ahead,” said Machón.
The former soccer player also gave a message to all those children and young people who want to achieve their dreams through football so they can move forward.
“You have to continue, you have to continue training, you have to continue studying and you have to continue preparing. The path, in this case of the soccer player, is not easy, but it is not impossible either. Today they had several players here, several former players who had success through soccer and who can realize that, in the end, they can achieve it,” he assured.
Joy and happiness
Juan Diego one of the children members of the Palermo FC team that played the final in the 2014–2015 category He expressed his happiness at arriving with his friends and teammates to play the last match to obtain the title of Heroes del Barrio in the tournament.
“It feels good, it really feels happy. We made an effort and gave everything to get here. We had to train and continue training to get here, also thanks to our teacher for continuing to train us and giving us the motivation to get here,” he said.
He also sent a message to all children and adolescents “so that they can continue training and striving to achieve their goals.”