Football on "Campbell Live" TV3 Tonight

Football on "Campbell Live" TV3 Tonight

Uli Stieleke2008-07-24 12:26:28

Central United�s best under-15 footballers depart New Zealand on Friday bound for the Manchester United Premier Cup tournament which brings together the top talent in the age group from around the world.

The 16-strong squad, coached by Paul Posa, will be representing Australasia at the event for the second consecutive year after Central also competed at the 2007 tournament in Manchester.

The 2008 edition, which includes two players � Thomas Spragg and Keith Henry � returning from last year�s team, reached the tournament by first winning through the New Zealand qualifiers before travelling across the Tasman and taking out the Australian section by winning a penalty shootout over Newcastle in the final.

Of the 16-player squad, 12 represented Auckland Football�s under-14 side at the National Age Group tournament in Napier in 2007, while Spragg�s performances for the under-15 boys side earned him the overall MVP award for the event.

But Spragg and his team mates will face a much tougher task in Manchester where they could meet the likes of 2007 winners Barcelona, or youth teams from some of the strongest clubs in world football such as Brazil�s Sao Paulo or England�s Manchester United.

Before the tournament kicks off on August 4 (NZ time), Central will have had three warm-up games in England against the youth teams of Chadderton, Ryan Nelsen�s Blackburn Rovers and Nottingham Forrest.

Central will find out who they are up against in pool play when the tournament is drawn the night before the first match and Posa and his team are looking forward to the challenge they face.

�We�re trying to target two results � either a win or a draw � against teams we can realistically surprise,� Posa said.

�The learning curve for our players will be huge as we could face teams from England, Asia, North and South America and Africa with wildly contrasting styles.

�The players we�ll face will be very fast and skillful and if we�re not absolutely spot on defensively, we�re going to get punished.�

While the journey to Manchester gives the Central players a chance to mix it with some of the best players in the world, there is also the possibility of being spotted by talent scouts while on the tour.

Take the case of 2007 Central United player Cameron Lindsay, who was seen at the tournament and eventually signed a youth contract with Blackburn Rovers.

But Posa is quick to point out that his side�s focus lies in places other than dreaming of youth deals with big name clubs.

�Our emphasis will be on playing well as a team.

�If the boys play well as a team, they might get noticed and that will be a bonus,� Posa says.

While they are in Manchester, the Central side will take in two of Manchester United�s pre-season matches against Espanyol and Juventus while also getting a tour of Old Trafford.

Check back with www.aucklandfootball.org.nz for results and updates from the tour.

Squad: Joshua Fsadni, Tane Gent, Carlos Timo, Ryan Martin, Joshua Morrison, Matthew Rowland, James Routledge, Dean Lausev, Fabio Tavano, Keith Henry, Matthew Kolose, Bryce Felton, Joseph Dan-Tyrell, Thomas Spragg, Alex Carr, Reeda Maged.

Support staff: Paul Posa (Head Coach), Steve Saric (Asst Coach), Brian Spragg (Manager), Katherine Ludbrook (Physio).

Uli Stieleke2008-07-24 14:04:04

Congrats to the boys, thats one hell of an achivement!

Hopefully the nz website will have some good updates for us

Tane Gent.. StAC repn it straight G.

 

http://www.3news.co.nz/Video/CampbellLive/tabid/367/articleID/64322/cat/84/Default.aspx

There was a story on Prime news last night about Vince Lia's season ending injury. Leo Bertos was interviewed and they then showed Daniel's goal against CCM. I flicked between TV1 & TV3 hoping to see it again but they had nothing.

Prime might push tv1 into  the bronze medal position in terms of football coverage (i really hope not as TV has the far greater viewing numbers - even among football fans)

Apparently Breakfast on tv1 had a 5 minute interview with Andrew Durante the other day, i didnt see it but ive been told

and you would hope prime were good, they do have a 30 minute sport news show every night

good to see that TV 1 is providing some coverage, be great if they actually made a race of it this year (to keep Gourdie and his mates on their toes )