The 2012 Future Champions Gauteng International Tournament Day 04

Johannesburg, Friday, 30 March 2012 – The final of the 2012 Future Champions Gauteng will be an all-South American affair after defending champions Clube Atletico Mineiro of Brazil and Uruguay’s Nacional won through to the title-decider on Friday.

The pair were victorious in their semi-final matches and will now meet in Saturday’s final for the right to be crowned the fourth winners of the prestigious Future Champions Gauteng Under-17 tournament.

Friday produced another exciting series of matches at the Nike Training Centre in Pimville, Soweto, after the players had enjoyed a rest day on Thursday.

Clube Atletico Mineiro booked their return to the final with a comfortable 2-0 win over Zambia’s K-Stars in the first semi. There were familiar scorers for the Brazilians as well, with Carlos and Ze Alberto netting the side’s goals, both players taking their tally to three for the tournament.

Nacional won the right to join them in the final when they beat Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven 1-0 thanks to a last minute goal from the prolific Marcos Labandeira, his fifth of the campaign to take him joint-top of the scorers list.

It was another assured performance from the Uruguayans, who will be worthy finalists, setting up a mouth-watering fixture against their continental rivals.

Earlier in the day, Tristan Gatter scored the only goal of the game as Bidvest Wits defeated their compatriots, the School of Excellence, by a slender 1-0 scoreline to earn themselves a place in the ninth-place play-off on Saturday.

They will be joined by Ghana’s FC Nania, who produced the biggest result of the competition so far, thrashing the Mohloli High School 7-0. Collins Asare netted a brace, to go with goals from Abraziz Abankwah, Evans Omani, Joshua Aditser, Ebenezer Osei and Eric Tuffour.

USA side New England Revolution beat Aspire Academy from Qatar 1-0 with Daniel Apajee getting the only goal of the game to book a meeting with the highest ranked South African team, Orlando Pirates FC, in the fifth-placed play-off.

The Young Buccaneers were too good for Botswana’s Young Zebras as they ran out 2-0 winners, tournament joint top-scorer Siyanda Ngcobo scoring his fifth goal of the campaign, along with a second for Nhakanipho Ntuli.

The final day of action will kick-off early on Saturday morning, with the first two matches getting underway at 08h00.

The School of Excellence and Mohloli High School will do battle to avoid the wooden spoon with 11th place up for grabs. These two teams have recent history, having met in the 2012 Future Champions Gauteng Cup on March 18, with School of Excellence edging a 2-1 win.

And before that, they had met in the Future Champions Schools Cup on March 10, with Mohloli High School the 1-0 winners on that occasion.

Bidvest Wits and FC Nania will play-off for ninth in the tournament, while Aspire Academy and Young Zebras will meet to decide seventh. Orlando Pirates FC and New England Revolution play for fifth.

K-Stars will be looking to go one better than their fourth-place finish last year when they take on PSV Eindhoven for third in a match between the two semi-final losers.

Before the grand final that will see the two South American sides in the competition, Clube Atletico Mineiro and Nacional, to battle for the winners’ crown.

The Future Champions Gauteng tournament, organised by Global Sports International on behalf of the Gauteng Provincial Government, has grown into one of the top Under-17 competitions on the global football calendar and is now in its fourth year.

Boca Juniors from Argentina were crowned champions in 2009, with Chinese side Shandong Luneng victors in 2010. Clube Atletico Mineiro were the first Brazilian winners when they triumphed last year.

FRIDAY’S RESULTS
Bidvest Wits 1 (Tristan Gatter) School of Excellence 0
FC Nania 7 (Collins Asare 2, Abraziz Abankwah, Evans Omani, Joshua Aditser, Ebenezer Osei, Eric Tuffour) Mohloli High School 0
New England Revolution 1 (Daniel Apajee) Aspire Academy 0
Orlando Pirates FC 2 (Siyanda Ngcobo, Nhlakanipho Ntuli) Young Zebras 0
Clube Atletico Mineiro 2 (Carlos, Ze Alberto) K-Stars 0
Nacional 1 (Marcos Labandeira) PSV Eindhoven 0

SATURDAY’S FIXTURES
08h00Â Eleventh-place play-offÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ School of Excellence vs Mohloli High School
08h00Â Ninth-place play-offÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ Bidvest Wits vs FC Nania
09h30Â Seventh-place play-offÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ Aspire Academy vs Young Zebras
09h30Â Fifth-place play-offÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ New England Revolution vs Orlando Pirates FC
11h00Â Third-place play-offÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ K-Stars vs PSV Eindhoven
13h00Â FinalÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ Clube Atletico Mineiro vs Nacional

TOURNAMENT STATS
Matches played: 24
Goals scored: 70
Biggest victory: FC Nania 7 Mohloli High School 0
Most goals in a game: 7 – FC Nania 7 Mohloli High School 0

Topscorers:
5 – Marcos Labandeira (Nacional), Siyanda Ngcobo (Orlando Pirates FC)

3 – Carlos (Clube Atletico Mineiro), Collins Asare (FC Nania), Yago (Clube Atletico Mineiro), Ze Alberto (Clube Atletico Mineiro)

2 – Joshua Aditser (FC Nania), Clint Leemans (PSV Eindhoven), Tshepo Mashigo (School of Excellence), Joseph Mukomena (K-Stars), Emmanuel Mumba (K-Stars), Nhlakanipho Ntuli (Orlando Pirates FC), Gaston Pereiro (Nacional), Thembinkosi Phiri (Bidvest Wits), Thatayaone Ramatlapeng (Young Zebras)

1 – Abraziz Abankwah (FC Nania), Ahmed Al-Sadi (Aspire Academy), Daniel Apajee (New England Revolution), Sultan Bakhit (Aspire Academy), Davy Daka (K-Stars), Tristan Gatter (Bidvest Wits), Mawolo Gissie (New England Revolution), Richard Dorrego (Nacional), Guyllain Kabala (New England Revolution), David Kashanga (K-Stars), Bongani Khanyile (Orlando Pirates FC), Amadu Kunateh (New England Revolution), Tsotlhe Leshetla (Young Zebras), Johnfer Luna (Nacional), Mohamad Mahmoed (PSV Eindhoven), Marcelo (Clube Atletico Mineiro), Tshidiso Monamodi (Bidvest Wits), Kabelano Mooketsane (Young Zebras), Kabelo Moshane (School of Excellence), Albert Ngosa (K-Stars), Evans Omani (FC Nania), Leandro Otormin (Nacional), Ebenezer Osei (FC Nania), Moses Raphepele (School of Excellence), Christian Sady (New England Revolution), Casey Schehl (New England Revolution), Eric Tuffour (FC Nania), Jouneid Yachou (PSV Eindhoven), own goal

For further information and results, please visit:

http://facebook.com/futurechampions
http://twitter.com/FutureChampsU17

For live results of the Future Champions Gauteng international tournament on your mobile, please sms ‘Future Champions’ to 34747 to register (SMS cost R1.50)

  • We had a wonderful football and cultural experience in Gauteng. The tournament and activities were very well organized and we found everyone involved extremely helpful and accommodating. We have all returned home with fantastic memories of our time in South Africa, both on and off the pitch, and have made many new friends as a result of the trip. I hope that we are invited to participate in future tournaments.

    Everton Academy Head Coach

  • The experience both on and off the field for our players during the Future Champions tournament in Gauteng was life-enriching for all those who participated. We were privileged enough to win this edition but what will be bringing us back in future is the cross-cultural education our players receive from spending time with athletes from all over the world. They are human beings before they are football players and enriching them with other cultures is as rewarding as the experience they receive on the field.

    Club Tijuana Director of Football

  • After twenty years of experiencing tournaments around the globe, Future Champions is hands down the best organized, well run International Tournament we have ever participated in. Bringing teams from dozens of different countries provided our boys exposure to cultural diversity they only read about in textbooks. It’s amazing how sport can be the cultural link that provides the opportunity to interact with each other and discover that our global community is a bit smaller than they realized. We had a football and cultural experience that will be cherished for the rest of our lives.

    Director of USYSA Select

  • For us to compete in Future Champions is much more than playing a series of matches. It is an opportunity to compete and contrast our level against the best teams from around the world and the possibility of living in another culture and environment for an unforgettable week, learning about the history of the fight for human rights.

    Director of Aspire Academy

  • The addition of a girls’ competition this year is a natural expansion for what has become a hugely popular event. Over and above the football, the players are also exposed to life-skills courses and HIV/AIDS awareness that could end up saving their lives in the future. We have had an amazing partnership with the Gauteng Province over the last decade and we thank each and every stakeholder for making the Future Champions Gauteng campaign such a huge success

    Tournament director