EUROBODALLA football player Erich Danhel has returned with a gold medal from the Pan Pacific Masters Games at the Gold Coast in November.
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Danhel, who played for Broulee Stingrays all age men’s last season, joined the Canberra Old Boys over 50s men’s team and said he cherished the atmosphere of his first Pan Pacs.
“Well you really had to be there to experience it, it was absolutely phenomenal,” Danhel said.
“Those sorts of tournaments attract ex-premier league and state league players that are past their time and I was lucky to fit in there.”
Playing in temperatures ranging from the mid- 20s to the low 30s, Danhel played five games and his side went undefeated to claim the over 50s title division two blue title.
One day one, the Old Boys made light work of the Quarryman winning 3-1 and they followed it up with the same score line the next day, in their favour, against Riff Raff.
The team had a rest day before playing its toughest foe, the Sandy Redbacks, and the Canberra Old Boys came away with a 1-nil win.
“They were the toughest team (we played),” Danhel said.
The Old Boys’ match against Gold Coast Great Britain was unfortunately washed out and both teams shared the points.
The next day the Old Boys defeated Centurions 5-1 and booked its place in the gold medal match.
The Old Boys faced the Sandy Redbacks in the final and were able to learn from the previous match-up, scoring three goals to nil to win the gold medal.
Danhel’s team developed better chemistry over the week which helped the Old Boys deliver a gold medal performance.
“The more we played, the more we gelled and we played really good soccer towards the end of the week,” he said.
Danhel said there was excellent sportsmanship on show and it was a bit like a “World Cup”.
“There were teams from New Zealand and Fiji and there were five ovals going from 9am to 9pm,” he said.
After getting a taste of his first Masters Games, Danhel was looking forward to pulling on the boots for the Old Boys at the Australian Masters Games at Adelaide in October.
“I said to the guys ‘look, I’d love to play next year’ and they said ‘well we have inked you in, not just pencilled’,” he said.
“I must have made some sort of impression which is good.”
The team also hopes to tackle the Pan Pacs again in 2016 before the World Masters in New Zealand in 2017, which was Danhel’s long-term goal.
“The main one I’m looking forward to is the Masters in New Zealand which will be spectacular,” he said.