GAUTENG sport, arts, culture and recreation MEC Lebogang Maile has described the Gauteng Future Champions Under- 17 international tournament as a platform to unearth and expose local talent globally.
Maile was speaking at the end of the tournament where Brazil's Clube Atletico Mineiro retained their title in Soweto at the weekend.
Mineiro beat Uruguay's Nacional 2-1 in an exciting all-South American final played at the Nike Football Training Centre in Pimville.
"While we are disappointed that our four clubs did not qualify for the second round, for us the most important thing is development," said Maile.
"We are using competitions like this to prepare our players for international competitions. We are confident some of them will play for Bafana Bafana one day."
Clube Atletico Mineiro's Ze Alberto scored a brace that was good enough to help his team win the tournament for a second successive year.
Nacional's goal came from Marcos Labandeira, his sixth of the tournament to become joint top scorer with Orlando Pirates's Siyanda Ngcobo.
Earlier in the day, the School of Excellence made sure they did not finish last when they defeated Mohloli High School 2-0 in the 11th-place play-off.
Their goals came from Moses Raphepele and Kgosi Sejosingoe.
Ghana's FC Nania took eighth place after defeating Bidvest Wits 1-0 thanks to a Abraziz Abankwah goal. Wits finished ninth.
Qatar's Aspire Academy finished a credible seventh with a 1-0 win over Botswana's Young Zebras, Sultan Abdelhamid getting the goal.
Once more, Pirates were the top South African side, finishing in fifth place and qualifying for the 2012 Future Champions Belo Horizonte in Brazil.
The junior Amabhakabhaka beat New England Revolution from the US 4-2. Scorers were Ngcobo, Tshepo Liphoko, Nhlakanipho Ntuli and Sizwe Twala.
K-Stars of Zambia won a bronze medal following a 1-0 win over Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven, thanks to Austin Muwowo's solitary goal.
Future Champs tourney a huge hit
GAUTENG sport, arts, culture and recreation MEC Lebogang Maile has described the Gauteng Future Champions Under- 17 international tournament as a platform to unearth and expose local talent globally.
Maile was speaking at the end of the tournament where Brazil's Clube Atletico Mineiro retained their title in Soweto at the weekend.
Mineiro beat Uruguay's Nacional 2-1 in an exciting all-South American final played at the Nike Football Training Centre in Pimville.
"While we are disappointed that our four clubs did not qualify for the second round, for us the most important thing is development," said Maile.
"We are using competitions like this to prepare our players for international competitions. We are confident some of them will play for Bafana Bafana one day."
Clube Atletico Mineiro's Ze Alberto scored a brace that was good enough to help his team win the tournament for a second successive year.
Nacional's goal came from Marcos Labandeira, his sixth of the tournament to become joint top scorer with Orlando Pirates's Siyanda Ngcobo.
Earlier in the day, the School of Excellence made sure they did not finish last when they defeated Mohloli High School 2-0 in the 11th-place play-off.
Their goals came from Moses Raphepele and Kgosi Sejosingoe.
Ghana's FC Nania took eighth place after defeating Bidvest Wits 1-0 thanks to a Abraziz Abankwah goal. Wits finished ninth.
Qatar's Aspire Academy finished a credible seventh with a 1-0 win over Botswana's Young Zebras, Sultan Abdelhamid getting the goal.
Once more, Pirates were the top South African side, finishing in fifth place and qualifying for the 2012 Future Champions Belo Horizonte in Brazil.
The junior Amabhakabhaka beat New England Revolution from the US 4-2. Scorers were Ngcobo, Tshepo Liphoko, Nhlakanipho Ntuli and Sizwe Twala.
K-Stars of Zambia won a bronze medal following a 1-0 win over Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven, thanks to Austin Muwowo's solitary goal.
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