The first day of the Durban Under 19 International Football Tournament Training Camp on Sunday 30 March got off to a smooth start. The day began with introductions from the coaches and dividing the group of hopeful trialists into teams with two training sessions.
There were 123 trialists that were expected to arrive in Durban for the Camp on Friday but due to multiple reasons only 106 arrived. Out of the 17 players that are not in the camp, 5 were disqualified for using fake documents, 5 are writing examinations, 2 were discovered to have been signed by AmaZulu Football Club and the remainder cited family commitments.
Players that are writing examinations are expected to join the camp tomorrow and the high level negotiations are in progress with the AmaZulu Football Club to release the other two players.
Paulo Cardoso, Head of the Technical Team said it was very exciting to see the players again, the commitment and dedication they displayed during the first day was amazing.
“The two training sessions that were held yesterday enabled us to confirm the quality of players and their level of fitness. The competition is very high and you could see that the boys are hungry for a place in the final squad,” said Cardoso.
Securing a place in the KZN Hoy Park Academy XI that will play against Under 19 teams from various international leagues won’t be a walk in the park for the KZN hopefuls. The process of trimming down the squad to 20 players will see the first elimination taking place on Tuesday and thereafter after two days up until 06 April 2014. Those that have been eliminated will be sent home.
The prestigious inaugural Durban Under 19 International Football Tournament that will be held in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal from 31 July to 09 August 2014.
The participating teams are Everton Football Club from the English Premier League, the Italian Serie A, Associazione Sportiva Roma, the Portuguese Primeira Liga, Sporting Lisboa e Benfica, the Dutch Eredivisie, Feyenoord, the Argentinean Primera Division, Club Atletico Boca Juniors and the Brazilian Serie A, Santos Futebol Clube.
The South African Football Association Under 19 National Squad will also take part in this much anticipated world class football tournament.
