Over 70 percent of the players who’ll be playing at the second edition of the under 17 Gauteng Future Champions starting on 25 to 30 January are in junior national teams in their respective countries. This came to light during the media briefing to launch the tournament which is being hosted by the Gauteng Department of Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation together with the South African Football Association (SAFA) in association with Global Sports International.
The tournament will see four South African and eight international teams battling it out for the desirable trophy at the newly revamped Dobsonville stadium. Last year the tournament was held at Hyundai Park in Pimville which is now being revamped. Luck might be on the cards for many players as they’ll be looking to impress and attract the eyes of talent scouts as they’ll be ready to turn professional. At age 17, players are targets of many teams as a lot of them are yet to turn professional.
The first edition of the tournament saw Boca Juniors from Argentina lifting the trophy after their triumph over the Tunisian side Esperance. With the champions unable to defend their title this year, the race is now open for another team to be crowned new champions. The teams (four in each group), will be divided in three pools and will play on a round-robin basis. The top team in each of the pools, plus the best placed second team out of the three pools will contest in the semi-finals on 29 January. The final will be played the following day, 30 January.
In addressing the media the Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation Head of Department Ms Dawn Robertson said that “the department has realised that we (South Africa) are only going to get one chance in a long time to host the world cup and therefore we are exploiting all the opportunities and benefits that come along with it and that’s why we hosting events like these and hosting some of the big name teams”.
She also urged the community to come to the stadium and support the games and said that “the bigger the crowd, the louder the cheer the more the action”. Phil Mogodi of SAFA also called for support for the tournament. According to him, “some of the players in the tournament will be playing in the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil and beyond and it would be good for South African fans to have seen them first”.
Entrance to the stadium is free and the games will play everyday from the 25 to 30 January starting at 10h00.
The participating teams are:
* Supersport United
* Kaizer Chiefs
* Tshwane select
* Johannesburg select
* Esperance
* K Stars (Zambia)
* Botafogo (Brazil)
* Shodong Luneng (China)
* DC United (United Stares of America)
* Mumbai Challengers (India)
* Paris Saint Germain (France)
* Dublin District Football League (Ireland)
Issued by: Department of Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation, Gauteng Provincial Government
19 January 2010
Source: Department of Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation, Gauteng Provincial Government (http://www.srac.gpg.gov.za/)
