A Feast of Sports and Cultures

By 7.10 pm on Saturday evening, it was official: The winner of the DRÄXLMAIER Football World Cup is Satu Mare. The defending champion from Romania won the final match against the team from Tunisia with a score of 2:0. This final whistle signaled the end of an intensive day of high-quality sports. 16 teams from DRÄXLMAIER sites all over the world competed in the group phase, the quarter and semi-finals in ideal weather with a performance that thrilled a crowd of over 1000 spectators. In the end, the team from Satu Mare was able to raise high the much sought-after challenge cup that was awarded to the winning team for the first time.

"I'm so happy to be able to be here again", said Ioan Kirner, the captain of the  Satu Mare team after the final whistle. Fans of the defending champion were absolutely over the moon. They had cheered their team loudly throughout the day. "We love our fans", said the captain. The team from Satu Mare has won the DRÄXLMAIER World Cup for the fifth time. After three victories in the group phase, the host Vilsbiburg dropped out in the quarter finals after a very close penalty shoot-out against the later finalists from Tunisia. Third place went to the team from Serbia.

"Congratulations to Satu Mare for winning the title. You worked very hard for this victory in the highly competitive matches. But even the other 15 teams showed excellent performance. We have had a truly high-class tournament today", said Karl Wallner, Director of Site Infrastructure Management of the DRÄXLMAIER Group and initiator of the Football World Cup.

The DRÄXLMAIER Football World Cup is not only a sports competition, it is also a huge celebration of cultures. Participants come to Vilsbiburg with their support staff and fans  from DRÄXLMAIER sites all over the world every other year. This year, the participants included those from China, Germany, England, Malaysia, Macedonia, Mexico, Moldova, Nicaragua, Austria, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Thailand, Tunisia, Hungary and the USA. A highlight was the traditional dragon dance presented by the Chinese  DRÄXLMAIER colleagues. Together with the Böllerschützen, that also appear at every tournament, they are an example of the cultural diversity of the DRÄXLMAIER Group. Young visitors had fun in the games paradise and in the evening, there was live music for the visitors.

"I'm particularly pleased that so many people came from the region to celebrate with DRÄXLMAIER colleagues from all over the world", said Wallner. "We had a wonderful feast of sports and cultures today."