adminTakudzwa Chitsiga
Sports Reporter
FRIENDLY Academy players will have an opportunity to be tracked by some international scouts when they take part in the Durban Friendship Soccer Tournament in South Africa in the coming two weeks.
The Harare-based side which has an enrolment of players from Under-10 to Under-21 will be part of the eight-team tournament to be held from July 10 to 15.
Friendly Academy has a record of producing some top players with the most notable one being Zimbabwe international Marshall Munetsi, who also once played in the same tournament during his formative days with the academy.
Munetsi is now plying his trade in France for Ligue One side Stade de Reims, where he has grown to become one of the key players.
In their invitation, Durban Friendship Soccer Tournament organisers said they were looking forward to having several teams from across the globe.
“We are hosting the Durban Friendship Soccer Tournament in Durban from July 10 to 15 and we would like to invite Friendly Football Academy to participate in the tournament.
“We will have eight teams participating in our tournament who will be coming from DRC, Russia, Ghana, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Lesotho.
“The participating teams must consist of 24 members which is 20 players and four officials,” they stated.
Sydney Matanhike, the founding member of the Academy said they are looking forward to the Durban tournament. Matanhike hopes the team’s participation at the tournament will give their players exposure, experience and motivation as they seek to build strong football careers.
“We are looking forward to being part of the Durban Invitational Soccer Tournament after we got the invitation from the organisers in South Africa. The tournament is good for us as an academy and we are hopeful it will give the players the much needed exposure and experience.
“It is always good to give players opportunities to be scouted by foreign scouts and it’s these platforms which can help us. We have quite a number of talented players who are within our ranks and given such a platform, I know they have the potential to go far.
“We have already started preparations for the tournament even though we have some challenges here and there with financial constraints being the major obstacle.
“We are, however, grateful to ZIFA and the Sports and Recreation Commission who have always supported us in terms of travel documents and clearances,” said Matanhike.
Online Reporter