Orlando Pirates FC become the first South African team to win the Future Champions Gauteng International Tournament

Soweto, Saturday, 30th March 2019 – Orlando Pirates FC became the first ever South African winners of the Future Champions Gauteng International Tournament when they edged Russian visitors FC Spartak 8-7 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the final at the Nike Football Training Centre in Pimville, Soweto on Saturday.

It brought to an end a magnificent six days of action, where some of the top young players in the world competed for the prestigious Under-17 prize.

Pirates took the lead in a tense decider through Thabani Gumede, when he turned home the loose ball after Spartak failed to clear.

But the visitors hit back in the second period when leading scorer Magomedemin Rabadanov headed home a cross, to send the game to spot-kicks.

Both sides produced some excellent penalties, but in the end Pirates goalkeeper Blake Franzen saved two spot-kicks to give his side the historic trophy win.

Clube Brugge secured the bronze medal when they edged SAFA Gauteng 2-1 in the third-place play-off, with Samuel Mbangula and Ben van Lommel on target for last years’ winners.

Riandre Vries scored his fourth goal of the competition for SAFA Gauteng, but it was not enough to see them into the medal places.

Mexican side Club Tijuana, who were winners in 2013, finished fifth after they beat Kaizer Chiefs 2-1 in their play-off match.

Luis Ruiz and Jesus Rodriguez scored for the North American side, with Donnay Jansen on target for the Young AmaKhosi.

RCD Espanyol took seventh place after a hard-fought victory over Highlands Park in a penalty shoot-out.

Albert Risen scored for Highlands, but with Mateo netting for the Spanish side, the game finished in a 1-1 draw and went to post-match spot-kicks.

The club from Barcelona held their nerve in the shoot-out and ended up winning 4-2.

Bidvest Wits breezed to ninth place when they beat Italian outfit Reggio Audace, with Motihalosi Nare, Siphesihle Maseko and Daanyaal Daya finding the back of the net, the latter taking his tally for the competition to three.

Ayman Sanat was also on target for the third time in 2019, but could not lift Reggio Audace to the win.

All India Football Federation scored their first goals of the competition as they took 11th position with a 2-1 win over Chinese side Beijing Sinobo Guoan.

Harsh Patre and Satendra Yadav netted for the Indian outfit, while Jiawang Lu also scored a first goal of the competition for Beijing Sinobo Guoan.

The final of the girl’s competition was also played on Saturday, with SAFA Johannesburg running out 2-1 victors over Dr BW Vilakazi Secondary School in a battle between two sides who had won their place in the show piece fixture at the Future Champions Gauteng Cup.

Aliyaah Allie and Glovanna Barbosa netted for SAFA Johannesburg, while Akhona Hadebe got the lone goal for Dr BW Vilakazi.

The winners of the Future Champions Gauteng Talent Search were also announced, with Ayeesha Moosa from Nirvana Secondary School in Lenasia taking the girls’ spot, and Bulelani Mkhwanazi from Emshugantambo High School in Pimville and Mpho Maikhoso from Reashoma Secondary School in Protea North, the boys’ winners, while the Future Coaches winner was Setshedi More from Pimville.

The trio will have a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Spain, courtesy of LaLiga, where they will learn what it takes to play at the highest level.

The Future Champions Gauteng was organised by Global Sports International in partnership with the Gauteng Provincial Government.

This year’s tournament was also supported by LaLiga, Clinix Health, Rand Water, Lovelife, Sedgars Sport and Score Energy Drink.


SATURDAY’S RESULTS
Boys’ competition

Beijing Sinobo Guoan 1 (Jiawang Lu) All India FF 2 (Harsh Patre, Satendra Yadav)

Kaizer Chiefs 1 (Donnay Jansen) Club Tijuana 2 (Luis Ruiz, Jesus Rodriguez)
Reggio Audace 1 (Ayman Sanat) Bidvest Wits 3 (Motihalosi Nare, Siphesihle Maseko, Daanyaal Daya)
SAFA Gauteng 1 (Riandre Vries) Club Brugge 2 (Samuel Mbangula, Ben van Lommel)
Highlands Park 1 (Albert Risen) RCD Espanyol 1 (Mateo) – RCD Espanyol won 4-2 on pens
FC Spartak 1 (Magomedemin Rabadanov) Orlando Pirates 1(Thabani Gumede) – Pirates won 8-7 on pens

Girls’ competition

SAFA Johannesburg 2 (Aliyaah Allie, Glovanna Barbosa) Dr BW Vilakazi Secondary School 1 (Akhona Hadebe)

FINAL STANDINGS

1st – Orlando Pirates FC

2nd – FC Spartak (Russia)

3rd – Club Brugge (Belgium)

4th – SAFA Gauteng

5th – Club Tijuana (Mexico)

6th – Kaizer Chiefs

7th – Espanyol (Spain)

8th – Highlands Park

9th – Bidvest Wits

10th – Reggio Audace (Italy)

11th – All India Football Federation (India)

12th – Beijing Sinobo Guoan (China)

TOURNAMENT STATISTICS
Games Played: 30

Goals scored: 87

Biggest win: SAFA Gauteng 5 All India Football Federation 0
Most goals in a game: 5 – SAFA Gauteng 5 All India Football Federation 0

GOALSCORERS

5 goals – Mthokozisi Balakasi (Kaizer Chiefs)

4 – Riandre Vries (SAFA Gauteng)

3 – Daanyaal Daya (Bidvest Wits), Sviatoslav Kozhedub (FC Spartak), Samuel Mangula (Club Brugge), Mateo (RCD Espanyol), Magomedemin Rabadanov (FC Spartak), Albert Risen (Highlands Park), Ayman Sanat (Reggio Audace)
2 – Mario Lopez (Club Tijuana), Ryan Manning (SAFA Gauteng), Siphesihle Maseko (BidVest Wits), Lebo Matshaba (Highlands Park), Motihalosi Nare (Bidvest Wits), Cisse Sandra (Club Brugge)

1 – Arnau (RCD Espanyol), Yael Baltazar (Club Tijuana), Reece Bartlett (Kaizer Chiefs), Uwals Carrim (Bidvest Wits), Christian Castillo (Club Tijuana), Erick (RCD Espanyol), Estanis (RCD Espanyol), Robbie Gheerardyns (Club Brugge), Grabu (RCD Espanyol), Thabani Gumede (Orlando Pirates), Lennert Hallaert (Club Brugge), Guiseppe Iaquinta (Reggio Audace), Thando Jacobs (Bidvest Wits), Donnay Jansen (Kaizer Chiefs), Jerome Karelse (SAFA Gauteng), Jiawang Lu (Beijing Sinobo Guoan), Lorenzo Luchena (Reggio Audace), Tebogo Masuku (SAFA Gauteng), Stepan Melnikov (FC Spartak), Ndumiso Mkansie (Bidvest Wits), Siphamandla Msezane (Orlando Pirates), Aslan Mutaliev (FC Spartak), Harsh Patre (All India Football Federation), Marc Perez (RCD Espanyol), Yamkela Phalane (SAFA Gauteng), Jesus Rodriguez (Club Tijuana), Luis Ruiz (Club Tijuana), Ramses Serrano (Club Tijuana), Vlad Shitov (FC Spartak), Katleho Tsotetsi (Orlando Pirates), Ben van Lommel (Club Brugge), Yannis van Rumst (Club Brugge), Siyabonga Vilakazi (Highlands Park), Harsh Yadav (All India Football Federation)

Own goal – Sajad Parray og (All India Football Federation)

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  • 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