Brazil’s Clube Atletico Mineiro are Champions of the 2014 Future Champions Gauteng International Tournament

Johannesburg, Saturday, 29th March 2014 –Brazilian side Clube Atletico Mineiro have regained their Future Champions Gauteng title after a 5-4 penalty shoot-out victory over defending champion Club Tijuana from Mexico in Saturday’s final that ended 0-0 in regulation time.

It is a third title in all for Atletico, who were champions in 2011 and 2012, and came after a tense final in which neither side was able to gain the ascendancy at the Football Training Centre in Pimville, Soweto.

Club Tijuana had won their title last year after a shoot-out win over Everton, but came up short in this competition as the Brazilians held their nerve in the sudden-death penalties.

There was plenty of emotion at the end from both teams, unbridled joy for Clube Atletico Mineiro and tears from many of the Club Tijuana players.

The rest of the sides played off for position, with Congolese outfit CESD La Djiri claiming third place as they defeated home favorites Mamelodi Sundowns 2-0.

It has been a great debut in the tournament for the Congolese, who profitedfrom goals by Gedeon Ngayino Mbouele and Nicolas Nguessi Ondama to claim the win.

Canada’s Toronto FC claimed fifth place as they edged Zambian side K-Stars 1-0 withTomasz Balicki getting his second goal of the tournament. K-Stars, who have twice been semi-finalists in the competition, repeated their sixth-place finish of 2013.

English side Sunderland AFC finished in seventh place with a 2-1 win over Qatar’s Aspire Academy. Andrew Nelson, with his second goal of the tournament, and Charlie Wigley were on target for the Young Black Cats.

Said El-Sayed got what turned out to be a consolation for the Qatari side, who can be proud of their efforts in this year’s competition.

ADO Den Haag from the Netherlands needed penalties to get past local side Jomo Cosmos and claim ninth place. The teams played to a 1-1 draw after Darren de Luca scored for Cosmos and Younes Seghrouchni was on target for the Dutch team.

That forced the game to penalties where the European side held their nerve to claim the 3-2 win.

Dylan Edwards and Tholang Masegela scored for Sunward Park as the schools side defeated a USYSA Select side from America 2-1 and finished in 11th place. Michael Travaglio-Romeo was on target for the USA team.

Meanwhile, the winner of the 2014 Future Champions Gauteng Talent Search were named – Siyabonga Khumalo (Fumana Secondary), Nhlanhla Badumedi (Realogile Secondary) and Thabo Rakale (Dr AT Moreosele Secondary).

They are the three best youngsters in the 13-16 age group in the Gauteng Province this year and follow in the footsteps of Banyana Banyana star Refiloe Jane, who was winner of the competition in 2009.

The two Future Coaches winners are Rashid Yassine from Deep South Local Football Association and Nolufele Sila from the Soweto Local Football Association.

SATURDAY’S RESULTS

EXHIBITION GAME: SuperSport TH Academy 2(Themba Ndzimande 2)Kaizer Chiefs 1(Nkosinathi Nzama)

Royal Wahingdoh 1(Moirangthem Meitei)Shandong Luneng 1(Pu Chen).Royal Wahingdoh won 4-3 on penalties.

Sunward Park 2(Dylan Edwards, Tholang Masegela)USYSA1 (Michael Travaglio-Romeo)

CESD La Djiri 2(Gedeon Ngayino Mbouele, Nicolas Nguessi Ondama)Mamelodi Sundowns 0

Jomo Cosmos 1(Darren de Luca)ADO Den Haag 1(Younes Seghrouchni).ADO Den Haag won 3-2 on penalties.

Toronto FC 1(Tomasz Balicki)K-Stars 0

Sunderland AFC 2(Andrew Nelson, Charlie Wigley)Aspire Academy 1(Said El-Sayed)

FINAL: Club Tijuana 0 Clube Atletico Mineiro 0.Atletico won 5-4 on penalties.

FINAL POSITIONS

1st –Clube Atletico Mineiro (Brazil)

2nd –Club Tijuana (Mexico)
3rd –CESD La Djiri (Congo)

4th –Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa)

5th –Toronto FC (Canada)

6th –K-Stars (Zambia)

7th –Sunderland AFC (England)

8th –Aspire Academy (Qatar)

9th –ADO Den Haag (Netherlands)

10th –Jomo Cosmos (South Africa)
11th –Sunward Park (South Africa)
12th –USYSA Select (USA)
13th –Royal Wahingdoh (India)
14th –Shandong Luneng (China)
15th –SuperSport TH Academy (South Africa)

TOURNAMENT STATS
Matches played:35
Goals scored:81
Biggest victory:ADO Den Haag 4 USYSA 0
Most goals in a game:7 – Atletico Mineiro 5 SuperSport TH Academy 2

GOALSCORERS

4 – Jan Verduijn (ADO Den Haag)

3 – Patson Daka (K-Stars), Lovers Malatsi (Mamelodi Sundowns), Luca Uccello (Toronto FC)

2 – Sushil Ahongshangbam (Royal Wahingdoh), Tomasz Balicki (Toronto FC), Pu Chen (Shandong Luneng), Connor DeFilippis (USYSA), Said El Sayed (Aspire Academy), Michel Gafiny (CESD La Djiri), Mpumelelo Hlatshwayo (Mamelodi Sundowns), Keven (Clube Atletico Mineiro), Thabelo Mulaudzi (SuperSport TH Academy), Khomotso Marebane (Jomo Cosmos), Andrew Nelson (Sunderland), Dennis van der Heijden (ADO Den Haag), Own Goals
1 – Adson (Clube Atletico Mineiro), Bel Durel Avouno (CESD La Djiri), Tianci Bai (Shandong Luneng), Ghassen Ben Gharbia (Aspire Academy), Levy Berry (Sunward Park), Bruno (Clube Atletico Mineiro), Cesar (Clube Atletico Mineiro), Thabang Chuene (Mamelodi Sundowns), Trevor David (ADO Den Haag), Darren de Luca (Jomo Cosmos), Athenkosi Dladla (SuperSport TH Academy), Dylan Edwards (Sunward Park), Flavino (Clube Atletico Mineiro), Daniel Gonzalez (Club Tijuana), Joao Victor (Clube Atletico Mineiro), Li Liu (Shandong Luneng), Tholang Masegela (Sunward Park), Tshepiso Mbongwa (Mamelodi Sundowns), Moirangthem Meitei (Royal Wahingdoh), Mthokozisi Mngadi (SuperSport TH Academy), Kagiso Moshotetsi (Jomo Cosmos), Enock Mwepu (K-Stars), Gedeon Ngayino Mbouele (CESD La Djiri), Notha Ngcobo (Mamelodi Sundowns), Nicolas Nguessi Ondama (CESD La Djiri), Karabo Nkoana (SuperSport TH Academy), Lionel Ondongo Opera (CESD La Djiri), Alexander Pena (Toronto FC), Daniel Pybus (Sunderland AFC), Joshua Robson (Sunderland AFC), Juan Rodriguez (Club Tijuana), Younes Seghrouchni (ADO Den Haag), Yves Tchicaya (CESD La Djiri), Kevin Timachy (Toronto FC), Michael Travaglio-Romeo (USYSA), Marco Tulio (Clube Atletico Mineiro), Daude van der Kust (ADO Den Haag), Marco Vargas (Club Tijuana), Brandon Vazquez (Club Tijuana), Alexis Villalpando (Club Tijuana), Charlie Wigley (Sunderland AFC), Charles Yande (K-Stars)

To download photos of the event, please go to –www.usfirstmedia.photoshelter.com

  • 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