"Copa Potrero is here to stay"

"Seeing the joy that each kid had, playing the type of tournament a pro player does... being able to witness how much they enjoyed it, having friends and family watching them on TV... this is the kind of thing we set out to do. We wanted the kids that play every day on the sandlots to be in the national spotlight. The impact was massive. I'm really happy about how it turned out. The games themselves, the sportsmanship, the flawless work of the organizers and, because in the end, everyone came out swinging to take the win, just like you do on the sandlot. That's the spirit that the Copa Potrero captured, and it makes me really happy. Big grats to the champs and the 800 players who gave it their all too. Copa Potrero is here to stay."

These were Kun's words to wrap up the Copa Potrero (Sandlot Cup, after the traditional pickup games), after three days of intense competition. La Crema, the winning team, took a prize pool of USD 210,000, with other 40 teams of 20 players competing. 103 matches were played, each of them running of a schedule to be broadcasted through ESPN and Disney+. Villa La Ñata took second place and a payoff of USD 50,000, with third and fourth places taking USD 25,000 each, and winnings of USD 10,000 for the fifth, sixth, seventh and eight place.

It was a one-of-a-kind experience for the 800 players and 100 staff team members that participated. Organizers ran a world-class operation, setting up transportation for all participants to travel to the facilities in the outskirts of Buenos Aires where the matches would be played, providing changing rooms for each team with catered lunches ready for every player, as well as resources to hydrate and fruit snacks to tide them through the intense rounds of playoffs. Event staff also prepared the kits for each player and set up physio massages for before and after each match. It was truly a celebration of football, with many national representatives of the sport attending, like Carlos Tevez, Ariel Ortega, Augusto Fernandez and Mauro Zarate, among others.