새 소식

Tournament Day 1

HEAVY rainfall could not dampen the spirits of the young footballing stars of the future when they turned out at Manchester United's training complex as the final stages of the competition to find the best under-15 team in the world kicked off at Carrington today.

The story in Group A is that Newcastle United and Mexican team Pachuca lead the group with six points apiece, Newcastle with an impressive seven goals in just two matches; whilst PSG recovered some ground at the expense of FC Torino. The Italian team and Shillong Lajong from India are both still looking for their first points at the end of the first day's play.

Meanwhile in Group B, Colo Colo and Right to Dream Academy edge ahead of European Premier Cup Champions Bucaspor with four points apiece to the Turkish team's three point tally; and last years finalists Werder Bremen languish at the bottom of the table, yet to make their mark.

Group C - the most eagerly anticipated match of the day saw host team Manchester United suffer a three goal defeat at the hands of two Times MUPC World Champions FC Barcelona!

Man United Coach Tommy Martin admitted: "We knew this was going to be a tough match - we suffered at the hands of this same team two years ago at U-13 and knew they were going to be strong. But there are positives - our young team played well and hope to be able to hold our own in the other matches in our group."

FC Barcelona Coach Victor Sanchez was happy with his team'ss performance - and hopes for more of the same! "At our first game we had no knowledge of this particilar team from United so it was difficult to know what to expect. Coming out here this morning we told the boys that the most important thing was just to enjoy themselves and play their own game - everything as usual."

Barcelona, Manchester United and US team Alta Loma Arsenal stay in the running with 3 points apiece, whilst Malaysian team MSS Kedah had a respectable start with just one point and Australia's Sutherland Sharks are surprise group leaders at the end of the first day's play.

Brazilian MUPC Champions Internacional soar to the top of Group D with a perfect six points and Kyoto Sanga, FC Porto and Orlando Pirates stay on track with 3points each; whilst Ulsan Hyundai have yet to score.

Group matches continue at Carrington tomorrow (Thursday) with the knockout stages and semi-finals on Friday and the grand finale takes place at Old Trafford on Saturday at 12:30pm after Open Training.