Day 03 of the Future Champions Gauteng International Tournament

The four semi-finalists of the 2016 Future Champions Gauteng International Tournament were revealed on Wednesday as local sides Orlando Pirates and Bidvest Wits joined Spanish outfit Atletico Madrid and Mexicans Club Tijuana in the last four.

The prestigious junior competition for Under-17 teams, now in its eighth year, sees 12 clubs compete for the coveted prize and the opportunity to be crowned champions.

Wits sealed their place in Friday’s semi-finals with an emphatic 3-1 victory over Chinese visitors Shandong Luneng.

Shungu Dutiro netted a brace of goals for The Clever Boys and in doing so took his tally for the tournament to four and leaves him alone at the top of the goal-scorers charts.

Edson Khumalo had given Wits the lead before Chaoyang Liu equalised for the Asian side.

Spanish LaLiga giants Atletico made it three wins from three games, and top spot in their pool, with a slender 1-0 success over local side Black Aces.

Guille Niero got the only goal of the game to set up a semi-final with Pirates, the latter finishing top of their pool despite a 1-1 Soweto Derby draw with Kaizer Chiefs.

Lebohang Lesako got the opener for the AmaKhosi, but Njabulo Ngcobo struck back late on to grab a share of the spoils for the young Buccaneers.

Three-time champions Clube Atletico Mineiro still had to settle for second spot behind Pirates in Group A on goal-difference despite their 2-1 success over Mamelodi Sundowns.

Andrew and Alerrandro were on target for the Brazilian side while promising Under-14 player Pitso Tlotlego got his second goal of the campaign for Sundowns.

Defending champions Torino may have been denied top-spot in their Group D but they ended their pool stage with an emphatic 4-1 success over Mozambican outfit Ferroviario de Maputo.

Alessandro Iacuaniello grabbed a hat-trick for the Italians to go with a second goal of the tournament for Nahuel Jose Busato. Luis Sitoe netted for Ferroviario.

Club Tijuana sealed the final semifinal spot as they topped Group B despite a 1-0 loss to Belgian side Club Brugge, who had scorer Murad-Han Gonen to thank for their victory.

Tijuana edged the Belgians to top spot on goal-difference.

The Future Champions Gauteng International Tournament has once again been given an extra edge with local schools adopting one of the 12 competing team as their own, with the intention of rallying support for their side.

The school of the club that wins the tournament in the final on Saturday will receive soccer merchandise to boost their own football programme.

This year’s Future Champions Gauteng tournament will also be supported by the Gauteng Gambling Board, the Spanish LaLiga, the Clinix Health Group, Sedgars Sport and the Winner brand, Levati Water, Motordeal and Score energy drinks.

LaLiga will also be hosting the three winners of the Future Players Talent Identification programme, as well as the most promising coach, that is being run in conjunction with the Future Champions Gauteng tournament.

WEDNESDAY’S RESULTS
BidVest Wits 3 (Edson Khumalo, Shungu Dutiro 2) Shandong Luneng 1 (Chaoyang Liu)
Black Aces 0 Atletico Madrid 1 (Guille Niero)

Torino 4 (Alessandro Iacuaniello 3, Nahuel Jose Busato) Ferroviario Maputo 1 (Luis Sitoe)

Mamelodi Sundowns 1 (Pitso Tlotlego) Atletico Mineiro 2 (Andrew, Alerrandro)

Orlando Pirates 1 (Njabulo Ngcobo) Kaizer Chiefs 1 (Lebohang Lesako)

Club Tijuana 0 Club Brugge 1 (Murad-Han Gonen)

STANDINGS

GROUP A P W D L GF GA PTS
Orlando Pirates (SA) 3 2 1 0 5 2 7

Atletico Mineiro (Brazil) 3 2 0 1 4 4 6

Kaizer Chiefs (SA) 3 0 1 2 1 4 1

GROUP B P W D L GF GA PTS

Club Tijuana (Mexico) 3 1 1 1 3 2 4

Club Brugge (Belgium) 3 1 1 1 1 1 4

Mamelodi Sundowns (SA) 3 0 2 1 2 3 2

GROUP C P W D L GF GA PTS

Atletico Madrid (Spain) 3 3 0 0 5 0 9

Shandong Luneng (China) 3 0 1 2 2 5 1

Black Aces (SA) 3 0 1 2 1 4 1
GROUP D P W D L GF GA PTS
BidVest Wits (SA) 3 2 1 0 8 2 7

Torino (Italy) 3 2 1 0 7 2 7

Ferroviario de Maputo (Moz) 3 0 0 3 1 11 0


FRIDAY’S FIXTURES

11h30 – Club Brugge vs Torino

13h00 – Atletico Mineiro vs Shandong Luneng

14h30 – Orlando Pirates vs Atletico Madrid (semi-final 1)

14h45 – Mamelodi Sundowns vs Ferroviario Maputo

16h00 – Club Tijuana vs Bidvest Wits (semi-final 2)

16h15 – Kaizer Chiefs vs Black Aces

TOURNAMENT STATS
Matches played: 18
Goals scored: 40
Biggest victory: Ferroviario Maputo 0 BidVest Wits 4
Most goals in a game: 5 – Torino 4 Ferroviario Maputo 1

GOALSCORERS

4 goals – Shungu Dutiro (BidVest Wits)
3 – Alessandro Iacuaniello (Torino)
2 – Andy (Atletico Madrid), Nahuel Jose Busato (Torino), Oscar Clemente (Atletico Madrid), Lyle Foster (Orlando Pirates), Daniel Lopez (Club Tijuana), Agostino Rizzo (Torino), Pitso Tlotlego (Mamelodi Sundowns)

1 – Alerrandro (Atletico Mineiro), Andrew (Atletico Mineiro), Ethan Andrews (BidVest Wits), Katlego Cwinyane (Orlando Pirates), Diego de Carvalho (Black Aces), Sibusiso Dlamini (BidVest Wits), Edgar (Club Tijuana), Murad-Han Gonen (Club Brugge), Igor (Atletico Mineiro), Indio (Atletico Mineiro), Lebohang Lesako (Kaizer Chiefs), Muzomuhle Khanyi (BidVest Wits), Edson Khumalo (BidVest Wits), Changqi Liu (Shandong Luneng), Chaoyang Liu (Shandong Luneng), Thabiso Monyane (Club Brugge), Njabulo Ngcobo (Orlando Pirates), Guille Niero (Atletico Madrid), Luis Sitoe (Ferroviario Maputo)

  • 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