A group of aspiring young soccer players will be representing South Africa in an international football tournament in Germany, later this month.
This comes after they were crowned champions of the fifth edition of the local Volkswagen Junior Masters tournament in December last year.
The team, the only one from the African continent, will be competing against top footballing nations from around the world.
With Bafana Bafana having failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, South Africa will at least be represented by a group of under 13 boys in an international football tournament.
They have been training for more than six months in preparation for the tournament in Berlin where they will take on teams from across the club such as Argentina, Brazil, Germany, South Korea, Spain and the USA.
The group of players competed against 15 other local teams for the honour to represent South Africa at the global event.
And this early exposure to a quality international tournament, will prepare the players for the demands of the sport at global level.
”You not only representing your country you are representing Africa as well in this tournament. Now that comes with a huge burden to carry on your shoulders and in your minds but I can tell you at your young ages this is only the beginning. When you get to World Cup stages at senior level that when you have to carry big burdens,” says former Bafana Bafana Keeper, Andre Arendse.
The players are looking forward to show off their talent against top footballing nations.
”This is a massive big tournament for the boys to be involved in and it’s a stepping stone for them for their development and kind of helps them realise what’s it’s like to be a professional one day and if they really want to take that route,” says Development Soccer Coach, David sham.
For some, it will be a first time outside the borders of South Africa.
”We are all going to try our hardest. We are all going to have our sights on the cup. We are all going to play and make our country proud,” says the team’s captain Gabriel Leeb.
The tournament will be staged from the 15th to the 26th of this month.
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