Club Tijuana back for Future Champs

There will be one very familiar name and a new entrant in the field for the 2014 Future Champions Gauteng International Tournament to be staged at the Football Training Centre in Pimville, Soweto, from March 24-29.

Defending champions Club Tijuana from Mexico, who lifted the trophy last year after a penalty shoot-out victory over English side Everton, will be returning for the event after breaking the run of Brazilian side Clube Atletico Mineiro who had claimed the previous two titles.

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Club Tijuana is a relatively new outfit having formed in 2007, but they competed in the Mexican top division and were winners of the 2012 Apertura championship. They are currently coached by Venezuelan tactician César Farías. The players are mostly home-based, but are also drawn from Colombia, Argentina and the USA.

Their current squad includes Mexico national team goalkeeper Cirilo Saucedo and midfielder Fernando Arce.

“It will be a long journey to South Africa but we will joyfully participate in the Future Champions Gauteng International Tournament again. It is a big honour to represent Tijuana and Mexico,†says Club Tijuana official Frankie Oviedo.

Coming to the Future Champions event for the first time will be Dutch Eredivisie club ADO Den Haag.

Dutch academies are renowned for their excellence and ADO Den Haag is no different, having produced a number of top names in the game.

In contrast to Club Tijuana, their history dates back 109 years and in that time they have won two Dutch league titles.

ADO Den Haag are coached in a caretaker capacity by Henk Fräser, who took over in February from Maurice Steijn.

“This tournament is a fantastic opportunity for our players to showcase their skills in South Africa at such a fantastic tournament. We will play against teams from all around the world. A great experience for our players,†says ADO Den Haag official Patrick van Dullemen.

Alles Door Oefening (ADO), which translates to ‘All Through Exercise’ are based in the Dutch city of The Hague.

  • 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