South
African top soccer club's Youth Development this week gained great
momentum as the successful commencement of the 2018 U17 Future Champions
Gauteng International Tournament on Monday attests to this.
Hosted
at the Nike Football Training Centre in Pimville, Soweto, the
prestigious junior competition got off to a thrilling start.
The
Future Champions Gauteng International Tournament is celebrating its
10th year of giving some of the top junior players in the world the
chance to share the same pitch and develop their skills against
different styles of football.
The Future Champions Gauteng
International Tournament is organised by Global Sports International in
conjunction with the Gauteng Department of Sport, Arts, Culture and
Recreation, the Gauteng Department of Education and the South African
Football Association (SAFA).
This year’s competition is also be supported by Sedgars Sport, Clinix, LaLiga, Gauteng Coaches and the City of Johannesburg.
South African side Orlando Pirates FC were the big winners on the opening day of the tournament.
Pirates
had to come from a goal down to beat Namibian side Black Africa Hopsol.
This was after Oliver Baas had headed the visitors into the lead.
But
the Young Buccaneers responded in clinical style. With Siyabonga Buda,
Marx Hakeem and Augustine Mahlonoka finding the back of the net for a
3-1 victory..
Mamelodi Sundowns also got their campaign off to an excellent start. With a fine 2-1 victory over Belgian side Clube Brugge.
Thando
Buthelezi bagged a brace for The Brazilians. While Brugge managed a
consolation through captain Milan Vanacker, who converted from the
penalty spot.
Dutch club ADO Den Haag looked as though they would
be held to a goalless draw by Zambian side Nkana FC. But were awarded
two late penalties in the final five minutes of the game that were both
converted by their skipper Lorenzo van Kleef.
Italian side AC Reggiana held Spanish LaLiga outfit RCD Espanyol to a 1-1 draw in their opener.
Federico
Ziveri was on target for the Italians. While Oriol netted for RCD
Espanyol, though both sides might have grabbed a winner.
The
final game of the day though. Was between Russian side Spartak Moscow
and local club BidVest Wits played to a 0-0 draw in their clash.
The game was an entertaining one between these two very good teams. Who in the end cancelled each other out.
Meanwhile, Mycomlink reports that "BidVest Wits will be the only local
representatives in the semi-finals of the 2018 Future Champions Gauteng
International Tournament after topping their pool with a late victory
over Italian side AC Reggiana on Wednesday.
They will now face a
semi-final clash with Dutch side ADO Den Haag on Friday, while the other
Last 4 fixture sees Belgian outfit Club Brugge take on FC Spartak from
Russia.
The four sides topped their first round pools on Wednesday as the group stages were complete with yet more thrilling football.
Wits secured their place with a deserved success as Ben Melamdowitz netted a late one for them.
They
beat RCD Espanyol into second place in Group D despite the Spanish side
claiming a 2-1 success over local favourites Orlando Pirates FC.
Oscar and Adria netted for the Spaniards, while Marx Hakeem grabbed what proved a consolation for the Young Buccaneers.
RCD
Espanyol will now face Zambian side Nkana FC in their play-off game in
two days’ time after they claimed a thrilling 3-2 success over Mamelodi
Sundowns.
In a match that swung one way and then the other,
Nelson Kaula, Mubanga Mulenga and Isaac Zulu were on target for the
Zambians, while Thato Matli and Cassius Mailula netted for the local
side.
ADO Den Haag claimed their semi-final place with a 3-1 win
over Highlands Park, including a third goal of the competition for
Lorenzo van Kleef, who moves to the top of the scorers chart.
Timo
de Vreede and Rini van der Walt were also on target for the Netherlands
side, while Eric Tivane grabbed the goal for Highlands Park.
Club
Brugge stayed on course for the trophy as they beat Jomo Cosmos 1-0
with Gabriel Lemoine getting the only goal of the game, while FC Spartak
secured their semi-final spot with a comprehensive 5-0 win over
Namibian side Black Africa Hopsol.
Pavel Kosongov (two), Ilya Predeys, Nikita Iosifov and Nikita Morgynov netted for the Russians.
In
the other play-off matches on Friday, Cosmos take on Black Africa
Hopsol, there is a local derby as Highlands Park meet Orlando Pirates FC
and Mamelodi Sundowns clash with AC Reggiana."
Entrance to all
matches are FREE to the general public, while there will also be the
final of the women’s competition as SAFA Johannesburg tackle SAFA
Tshwane.
The teams will have the day off on Thursday and will take in the sights and sounds of Gauteng on a cultural tour.
MONDAY’S RESULTS
Jomo Cosmos 0 Highlands Park 1 (Siyamamkela Ntame)
Mamelodi Sundowns 2 (Thando Buthelezi 2) Club Brugge 1 (Milan Vanacker pen)
ADO Den Haag 2 (Lorenzo van Kleef 2 pen) Nkana FC 0
Black Africa 1 (Oliver Baas) Orlando Pirates 3 (Siyabonga Buda, Marx Hakeem, Augustine Mahlonoka)
AC Reggiana 1 (Federico Ziveri) RCD Espanyol 1 (Oriol)
Spartak Moscow 0 BidVest Wits 0
WEDNESDAY RESULTS
Jomo Cosmos 0 Club Brugge 1 (Gabriel Lemoine)
Mamelodi Sundowns 2 (Thato Matli, Cassius Mailula) Nkana FC 3 (Nelson Kaula, Mubanga Mulenga, Isaac Zulu)
Highlands Park 1 (Eric Tivane) ADO Den Haag 3 (Timo de Vreede, Lorenzo van Kleef, Rini van der Walt)
Black Africa Hopsol 0 FC Spartak 5 (Pavel Kosongov 2, Ilya Predeys, Nikita Iosifov, Nikita Morgynov)
RCD Espanyol 2 (Oscar, Adria) Orlando Pirates 1 (Marx Hakeem)
AC Reggiana 0 BidVest Wits 1 (Ben Melamdowitz)
STANDINGS
GROUP A
P W D L GF GA PTS
Club Brugge (Belgium) 3 2 0 1 5 2 6
Highlands Park (SA) 3 1 0 2 2 6 3
Jomo Cosmos (SA) 3 0 0 3 0 3 0
GROUP B
P W D L GF GA PTS
ADO Den Haag (Holland) 3 2 1 0 6 2 7
Nkana FC (Zambia) 3 2 0 1 4 4 6
Mamelodi Sundowns (SA) 3 1 1 1 5 5 4
GROUP C
P W D L GF GA PTS
FC Spartak (Russia) 3 2 1 0 7 1 7
Orlando Pirates (SA) 3 1 0 2 4 5 3
Black Africa Hopsol (Namibia) 3 1 0 2 3 9 3
GROUP D
P W D L GF GA PTS
BidVest Wits (SA) 3 2 1 0 3 0 7
RCD Espanyol (Spain) 3 1 1 1 3 3 4
AC Reggiana (Italy) 3 0 1 2 2 4 1
FRIDAY’S FIXTURES
10h00 – Jomo Cosmos vs Black Africa Hopsol
11h30 – Highlands Park vs Orlando Pirates
11h45 – Mamelodi Sundowns vs AC Reggiana
13h00 – Nkana FC vs RCD Espanyol
14h30 – Club Brugge vs FC Spartak (Semi-Final 1)
16h00 – ADO Den Haag vs BidVest Wits (Semi-Final 2)
TOURNAMENT STATS
Matches played: 18
Goals scored: 44
Biggest victory: Black Africa Hopsol 0 FC Spartak 5
Most goals in a game: Black Africa Hopsol 0 FC Spartak 5; Mamelodi Sundowns 2 Nkana FC 3
GOALSCORERS
3 goals – Lorenzo van Kleef (ADO Den Haag)
2 goals – Thando Buthelezi (Mamelodi Sundowns), Pavel Kosongov (FC Spartak), Simphiwe Mabena (BidVest Wits),
1
goal – Adria (RCD Espanyol), Oliver Baas (Black Africa), Nikita Bakaluk
(FC Spartak), Ilya Bykovskij (FC Spartak), Siyabonga Buda (Orlando
Pirates), Yoram Chanda (Nkana FC), Charles De Ketelaere (Club Brugge),
Timo de Vreede (ADO Den Haag), Mathias De Wolf (Club Brugge), Marx
Hakeem (Orlando Pirates), Nikita Iosifov (FC Spartak), Nelson Kaula
(Nkana FC), Gabriel Lemoine (Club Brugge), Christiano Lorenzani (AC
Reggiana), Augustine Mahlonoka (Orlando Pirates), Cassius Mailula
(Mamelodi Sundowns), Thato Matli (Mamelodi Sundowns), Leighton McGalty
(Black Africa Hopsol), Ben Melamdowitz (BidVest Wits), Nikita Morgynov
(FC Spartak), Siphamandla Msezana (Orlando Pirates), Mubanga Mulenga
(Nkana FC), Salomon Negumbo (Black Africa Hopsol), Siyamamkela Ntame
(Highlands Park), Oriol (RCD Espanyol), Oscar (RCD Espanyol), Ilya
Predeys (FC Spartak), Sem Reijn (ADO Den Haag), Thomas van den Keybus
(Club Brugge), Eric Tivane (Highlands Park), Rini van der Walt (ADO Den
Haag), Milan Vanacker (Club Brugge), Riandre Vries (Mamelodi Sundowns),
Federico Ziveri (AC Reggiana), Isaac Zulu (Nkana FC)
For further information, please visit:
http://facebook.com/futurechampionshttp://instagram.com/FutureChampsU17
