Clube Atletico Mineiro, Sporting Lisbon, Everton and Club Tijuana make the 2013 Future Champions Gauteng semi-finals

Johannesburg, Wednesday, 27th March 2013 – The four semi-finalists in the 2013 Future Champions Gauteng are now known after the final round of pool matches were played at the Nike Football Training Centre in Pimville, Soweto, on Wednesday.

Defending champions Clube Atletico Mineiro, English side Everton, Mexican outfit Club Tijuana and Portuguese team Sporting Lisbon will contest Friday’s semi-finals after winning through to the Last 4 of the competition.

Club Tijuana secured a point in a 1-1 draw with Botswana side Young Zebras that secured their passage through. Jesus Valenzuela scored his second goal of the tournament, while Goitseone Legopelo was on target for the Southern African side.

That result, coupled with a 2-0 loss for University of Pretoria against Atletico Mineiro was enough to see the Mexicans finish top of Group C.

A brace of goals from Udsen handed Atletico the victory and the Brazilians stay on course for a hat-trick of Future Champions Gauteng titles after winning the competition in 2011 and 2012.

They finished ahead of SuperSport United in Group D, with the South African team beating Nigerian side Bridge FC 1-0. That victory, secured via a Dayne Jooste goal, left the young Matsatsantsa side level on seven points with Atletico but having scored a goal fewer.

Everton topped Group B after a 4-0 win over SAFA Sedibeng, despite the best efforts of Qatar’s Aspire Academy, who managed a 6-0 success over Johannesburg Secondary.

That also left both sides on seven points, but once again Everton had scored a goal more than the Middle East team.

Strikes from Joseph Williams, Kieran Dowell and Callum Connolly (two) gave Everton the win and took their goal tally for the competition to 10.

Aspire were in scintillating form as Ambar al Namani, Muaz al Abdien, Yousef Balan, Jassim al Shameri, Osama al Safdy and Salem al Hajri netted for them against the local Gauteng school side but they were still a goal short of Everton.

Sporting Lisbon became the fourth team into the semi-finals when they beat Zambia’s K-Stars 3-2. The tournament’s top-scorer Lisandro Semedo netted his fifth of the competition, to go with goals from Lucas Jamanca and Ricardo Santos).

Njavwa Shula and Gift Chikwangala were on target for K-Stars, the latter’s goal is the 50th of the tournament so far.

Club Tijuana will take on Sporting Lisbon on Friday’s first semi-final (14h30), with Atletico Mineiro meeting Everton in the second (16h00).

The remainder of the field will play-off for positions five to 12. SAFA Sedibeng play Young Zebras (09h45), while at the same time Jo’burg Secondary tackle Bridge FC.

K-Stars face University of Pretoria (11h00) and Aspire Academy face another Tshwane side in SuperSport United (12h15).

The players will take a rest on Thursday, when they will learn more about the culture of the Gauteng province with a series of activities aimed at broadening their knowledge and helping them interact with players from other teams.

After Friday’s round of matches, the Final will be staged on Saturday at 12h00, before which the other 10 sides will play-off for their finishing positions.

WEDNESDAY’S RESULTS:

Young Zebras 1 (Goitseone Legopelo) Club Tijuana 1 (Jesus Valenzuela)
Everton 4 (Joseph Williams, Kieran Dowell, Callum Connolly 2) SAFA Sedibeng 0
Aspire Academy 6 (Ambar al Namani, Muaz al Abdien, Yousef Balan, Jassim al Shameri, Osama al Safdy, Salem al Hajri) Jo’burg Secondary 0
SuperSport United 1 (Dayne Jooste) Bridge FC 0
Atletico Mineiro 2 (Udson 2) University of Pretoria 0
K-Stars 2 (Njavwa Shula, Gift Chikwangala) Sporting Lisbon 3 (Lucas Jamanca, Ricardo Santos, Lisandro Semedo)

FRIDAY’S FIXTURES:

09.45 SAFA Sedibeng vs Young Zebras
09.45 Jo’burg Secondary vs Bridge FC
11.00 K-Stars vs University of Pretoria
12.15 Aspire Academy vs SuperSport United
14.30 Sporting Lisbon vs Club Tijuana
16.00 Everton vs Atletico Mineiro

FINAL STANDINGS:

GROUP A P W D L GF GA PTS
ÂSporting Lisbon (Portugal) Â3 Â3 Â0 Â0 Â11 Â2 Â9
ÂK-Stars (Zambia) Â3 Â1 Â0 Â2 Â4 Â6 Â3
ÂSAFA Sedibeng (SA) Â3 Â0 Â0 Â3 Â1 Â10 Â0
GROUP B P W D L GF GA PTS
ÂEverton (England) Â3 Â2 Â1 Â0 Â10 Â1 Â7
ÂAspire Academy (Qatar) Â3 Â2 Â1 Â0 Â9 Â1 Â7
ÂJo’burg Sec. School (SA) Â3 Â0 Â0 Â3 Â0 Â15 Â0
GROUP C P W D L GF GA PTS
ÂClub Tijuana (Mexico) Â3 Â1 Â1 Â1 Â4 Â3 Â4
ÂUniversity of Pretoria (SA) Â3 Â1 Â0 Â2 Â1 Â5 Â3
ÂYoung Zebras (Botswana) Â3 Â0 Â2 Â1 Â2 Â3 Â2
GROUP D P W D L GF GA PTS
ÂAtletico Mineiro (Brazil) Â3 Â2 Â1 Â0 Â4 Â1 Â7
ÂSuperSport United (SA) Â3 Â2 Â1 Â0 Â3 Â0 Â7
ÂBridge FC (Nigeria) Â3 Â0 Â1 Â2 Â2 Â4 Â1

TOURNAMENT STATS

Matches played: 18
Goals scored: 51
Biggest victory: Aspire Academy 6 Jo’burg Secondary 0
Most goals in a game: 6 – Aspire Academy 6 Jo’burg Secondary 0

Topscorers:

5 – Lisandro Semedo (Sporting Lisbon)

3 – Muaz al Abdien (Aspire Academy)

2 – Yousef Balan (Aspire Academy), Callum Connolly (Everton), Calum Dyson (Everton), Guilherme (Atletico Mineiro), Lucas Jamanca (Sporting Lisbon), Matheus Pereira (Sporting Lisbon), Udson (Atletico Mineiro), Jesus Valenzuela (Club Tijuana)

1 – Salem al Hajri (Aspire Academy), Ambar al Namani (Aspire Academy), Osama al Safdy (Aspire Academy), Jassim al Shameri (Aspire Academy), Waris Aroworowon (Bridge FC), Rafael Barbosa (Sporting Lisbon), Lacksom Bwalya (K-Stars), Gift Chikwangala (K-Stars), Kenny Chungu (K-Stars), Kieran Dowell (Everton), Michael Dowell (Everton), Tyrone Duffus (Everton), Charley Edge (Everton), Edgar Godinez (Club Tijuana), Daniel Gomez (Club Tijuana), Mandla Grantsana (SAFA Sedibeng), Dayne Jooste (SuperSport United), Goitseone Legopelo (Young Zebras), Marcel Luck (SuperSport United), Oarabile Matlapeng (Young Zebras), Dikgang Ngcobo (University of Pretoria), Adebowale Ojo (Bridge FC), Ricardo Santos (Sporting Lisbon), Njavwa Shula (K-Stars), Liam Walsh (Everton), Joseph Williams (Everton), Kwanele Zulu (SuperSport United)

  • 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