Gauteng side SuperSport United put in the performance of the day as they defeated Brazilian club Cruzeiro 3-1

Gauteng side SuperSport United put in the performance of the day as they defeated Brazilian club Cruzeiro 3-1 on the second day of the 2015 Future Champions Gauteng International Tournament at the Football Training Centre in Pimville, Soweto on Tuesday (24 March 2015).

Goals from Khanyisa Mayo, national Under-17 captain Nelson Maluleke and Athenkosi Dladla sealed the victory for SuperSport, who have blown their Group D wide open.

Arthur provided a consolation for the Brazilians, who must now better the result of SuperSport in Wednesday’s final pool matches.

They take on local side Jomo Cosmos, while SuperSport tackle Ferroviario de Maputo from Mozambique.

Bidvest Wits made it two wins from two when they defeated Namibian side Oryx FC 2-0 thanks to goals from Roberto Goncalves and Luvuyo Mkatshana, who netted his second of the tournament.

That result, coupled with Sunderland AFC’s 2-0 win over University of Pretoria means that the English club will meet Wits in a straight shoot-out for top spot in Group A on Wednesday.

Sunderland AFC claimed their victory as Elliot Embleton and Luke Molyneux found the back of the net.

Ferroviario de Maputo and Zambian outfit K-Stars played to a 1-1 draw. Adriano dos Santos scored for the Mozambicans, while Francisco Kapilingo was on target for K-Stars, with the Maputo club still in with a shot of the semi-finals.

Home side Orlando Pirates FC played to a 0-0 draw with Dutch visitors ADO Den Haag that leaves both those teams on four points at the top of Group B. With an identical goal-difference and number of goals scored, it now comes down to who gets the better result on Wednesday.

Pirates take on Oryx FC, while ADO Den Haag challenge University of Pretoria with a win and goals the order of the day.

Finally, Italian side Torino defeated Jomo Cosmos 2-0 as Matteo Tobaldo got his second goal in as many days and Manuel de Luca added the other.

The Future Champions Gauteng International Tournament, now in its seventh installment, sees 12 teams from across the globe compete for the coveted prize and the opportunity to be crowned champions.

Boca Juniors from Argentina were crowned champions in 2009, with Chinese side Shandong Luneng victors in 2010. Atletico Mineiro were the first Brazilian winners when they triumphed in 2011 and then repeated that success in 2012 and 2014, with Club Tijuana victors the year in between.

WEDNESDAY’S FIXTURES

13h15 – K-Stars vs Torino

13h30 – University of Pretoria vs ADO Den Haag

14h45 – Orlando Pirates vs Oryx FC

15h00 – Sunderland vs BidVest Wits

16h15 – Ferroviario Maputo vs SuperSport United

16h30 – Cruzeiro vs Jomo Cosmos

TUESDAY’S RESULTS

BidVest Wits 2 (Roberto Goncalves, Luvuyo Mkatshana) Oryx FC 0

Ferroviario Maputo 1 (Adriano dos Santos) K-Stars 1 (Francisco Kapilingo)

Sunderland 2 (Elliot Embleton, Alex Ramshaw) University of Pretoria 0

Orlando Pirates 0 ADO Den Haag 0

Torino 2 (Matteo Tobaldo, Manuel de Luca) Jomo Cosmo 0

SuperSport United 3 (Khanyisa Mayo, Nelson Maluleke, Athenkosi Dladla) Cruzeiro 1 (Arthur)

  • 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