Wynton Rufer with the 2 finalist teams, (Back, from left) Jenna Prendergast (6) Liam Ruru (6) Isaac McConachie (6) Ngaio Davidson-Joull (7) Jack Lewis (6) Aaron Nelson (6). (Front, from left) Liam Boomer (6) Connor Whipp (5) Tom Dyer (5) Andrew Lu (6).
7th grade Max Stanton (6), of the Mornington Musketeers, chases Travis Courtney-Roddy (6), of the Green Island Lions.
Doing one-armed press-ups to warm up before her game is 8th grader Emma Crawley (7), of the Green Island Tricksters.
(Front left) 8th grade Josh Child (8), of Grants Braes Panthers, and Keegan Reid (7), of Maori Hill Blue.
7th grade Tessa Putt (6), of Caversham.
Wynton Rufer joins in the world cup final with (from left), Jack Lewis (6), Isaac McConachie (6), Ngaio Davidson-Joull (7), Connor Whipp (5) representing Argentina, Aaron Nelson (6), Andrew Lu (6) and Jenna Prendergast (6) representing New Zealand.
Blinded by Liam Ruru representing New Zealand, former All White Wynton Rufer manages to kick the ball through Isaac McConachie (6) representing Argentina (left) and Liam Boomer (6) New Zealand.
Ngaio Davidson-Joull (7), representing Argentina, is carried by Wynton Rufer, former All White star, after scoring a goal in the final against NZ.
5th grade Northern Jack Paris (5) with ball supported by Finn Abbey (5), Noah Taylor (5), Jack Flanagan (4).
Football Mini World Cup played on Saturday at the Oval.
The fifth annual Otago Daily Times-sponsored Mini World Cup was held on Saturday at the Oval, with a record 684 fifth-eighth grade players attending the event.
A special guest, Oceania player of the century Wynton Rufer, displayed his silky skills during the morning and was a hit with autograph hunters.
In the mini internationals, the eighth grade mini All Whites were too strong for their Argentina opposition, winning 5-3.
In the seventh and sixth grade matches, the two respective Argentina teams edged past their mini All Whites counterparts in entertaining 3-2 victories.
• Photos by Linda Robertson; prints available from otagoimages.co.nz.