Stars of the future on show in KZN

HERE is a strong chance that the next World Cup star could emerge from the Durban Under-19 International Football Tournament, which gets under way in KwaMashu this afternoon.

That is the view of Safa president Danny Jordaan, who addressed the teams taking part in the event, which will run until August 9.

Six foreign club sides and two local invitational sides will compete in six double-header match nights. The visiting sides are Boca Juniors of Argentina, Benfica of Portugal, England’s Everton, AS Roma of Italy, Feyenoord from Holland and Brazil’s Santos.

Speaking at a welcome dinner for the teams, Jordaan said that with each passing World Cup the players’ average age was younger. In Brazil most of the players were between 24 and 28. He wouldn’t be surprised if players from this tournament featured at the next World Cup in Russia in 2018.

“There was a higher number of younger players in the World Cup squads which made it to the final stages,” said Jordaan.

“Those with the same squads intact from 2010 went home early. Therefore the message is that we must focus intensively on our junior teams.

“These clubs are all world renowned. Our own Steven

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Pienaar is at Everton. Whether it’s (Frank) Rijkaard, (Diego) Maradona or Pele, they all started in these junior teams.

“We’ll be interested to see how many players from this tournament will be in Russia and in Qatar. By the time they go to Qatar they should be internationally established players.”

Although the KwaZuluNatal Academy XI and the Safa representative team would be playing against club sides, Jordaan said the competition would be similar to playing against national teams, and would serve as a measure of where South Africa stood on the international stage.

“These academy teams recruit players from all over their country, and not just from the city the club is based in. These teams are a microcosm of their country, so the SA Under-19 and KZN teams will be able to measure the extent to which we have succeeded in bringing our talent to compete with the rest of the world.

“We look forward to giving Shakes Mashaba players from this tournament. He must come watch the finals,” said Jordaan, referring to the new Bafana Bafana coach.

Mashaba was initially expected to be in charge of the Safa side for the event, and attended the tournament draw in Durban earlier this month. However, at present he is touring western Africa with the national under-20 squad, who are playing a series of matches in preparation for an African Youth Championship qualifier against Cameroon.

Former Bafana Bafana assistant coach Serame Letsoaka is in charge of the Safa team, assisted by former international midfielder Donald Khuse.