Prague, 25th June, 2014: The Organising Committee of the annual youth football tournament known as the GENERALI CEE Cup has announced today an exceptional list of confirmed teams to take part this year, including the winners of all three previous editions, FK Mlada Boleslav, the winners in 2011 and 2012, and last year’s winners, Gyor ETO FC, from Hungary. This year’s tournament kicks off on Wednesday, 23d July, and culminates in a ‘Grand Final’ that will take place in the famous “Ďolíček” stadium on Wednesday, 30th July and tickets can be purchased in advance on the portal mticket.cz or on the day.
The full list of teams is as follows:
1. AC Sparta Praha Czech Republic
2. Bohemians Praha 1905 Czech Republic
3. FC Juventus Bucuresti Romania
4. FK Sarajevo Bosnia
5. FSV Frankfurt Germans
6. Fudbalski Klub Crvena Zvezda Serbia
7. Futbalovy Klub AS Trencin Slovakia
8. Gyori ETO FC Hungary
9. FK Mlada Boleslav Czech Republic
10. SK Slavia Praha Czech Republic
11. Vasas Kubala Akademia Hungary
12. TS Wisla Krakow Poland
Five of the clubs are making their first appearance in the GENERALI CEE Cup and the organisers are expecting that the will be a good deal of interest in seeing how how the players from Central Europe fare against the German club FSV Frankfurt, as well as the other new clubs.
The organisers have made no secret of the fact that each year they aim to get more and more of the top youth teams from Central and Eastern Europe taking part in the tournament, and if last year’s edition is anything to go by, spectators at this year’s event can expect to see some real potential stars taking part.
Talking about this year’s list of teams, Roberto De Blasio, the Chairman of the Organising Committee said:
„I was asked recently where I would like to see the GENERALI CEE cup in ten years’ time, and I said that I hoped that it would be the real ‘go to’ tournament for the absolute best teams in the region each year. It is obviously a long process to persuade the very top teams to travel, as they have a lot of other commitments each season, but looking at the list of teams that are taking part this year, I think we are not far off reaching our goal.”
As in previous years, there are likely to be some exceptionally talented young players taking part in the tournament this year, many of whom are regarded as potential stars of the future, and according to their team coaches, several of these will come from the two Prague teams taking part. These include Matěj Pulkrab and David Březina from Sparta Prague and Marek Kodr from Slavia, all of whom have competed successfully in international youth competitions for the past three or four seasons. Kodr, in particular, is hoping to follow in the footsteps of last year’s „Player of the Tournament“, Jiri Sodoma who played for Slavia (the runners-up in 2013) and who is now a regular in the club’s A team.
Since its inception in 2011, the GENERALI CEE Cup has received the full support of the Czech Football Association (FAČR) and Prague City Hall. Talking about this, Mr. Lukas Manhart, one of the City councillors responsible for sport said:
„Just now Prague is competing for the title of European Capital of 2016 and the Generali CEE Cup is a big plus for the City’s candidacy, since it is one of the most important sporting events, which traditionally attracts to Prague the best teams from Central and Eastern Europe. Plus, of course, football is traditionally one of the most popular sports, and youth events of this type contribute to the growth in its popularity. I believe that this fourth year will again be very successful, will help many young football talents and will give overall support to sport in the capital.“
In addition to supporting young footballers, the GENERALI CEE Cup also supports charity, and every year it makes a donation from the proceeds to UNICEF in order to support the UNICEF Schools for Africa project.
The tournament focuses on “Respect”, “Fair Play” and “Competitiveness”, all of which are very important for today’s youth players.
