400 young soccer players from 32
countries will gather in Sao Paulo, Brazil between 14th and 16th
November to compete for the ultimate goal of lifting the Danone Nations Cup
trophy.
The Danone Nations Cup is the
largest soccer competition for children 10-12 years old in the world and is
backed by ex French football International, Zinédine Zidane. The tournament
brings together, as it has for the past 15 years, nearly 2.5 million children
per year from around the world.
The tournament has gained
credibility and legitimacy over the years due to the ever-strengthening
involvement of the national ambassadors in each country, such as Neil Tovey in
South Africa, Vicente Del Bosque in Spain, Cafú in Brazil, Dimitri Berbatov in
Bulgaria, Hagi in Romania, Michael Ballack in Germany, David Trézéguet in
Argentina, just to name a few.
“The tournament was created with
the aim of uniting the youth in a spirit of open-mindedness, sharing, fair play
and respect,” said Chantel Ehlers, Danone Southern Africa Communications
Specialist. “We wanted to create an event which we could identify with that is
close to our values and which can get the maximum of people involved on a
global scale. We wanted an event which could unite people in a spirit of
open-mindedness, sharing, emotion and respect and inspire youngsters to believe
in their dreams.
Preparations have started for
Siphumelele Primary School from Inanda, KwaZulu-Natal, who will represent South
Africa in Brazil, after winning the South African Danone Nations Cup back in
June. “Immediately after the national finals training took a back seat,” said
coach, Siboniso Ndwandwe. “We focused on work behind the scenes preparing
paperwork for Brazil and working with the Department of Education to secure a
proper training ground, securing for a professional coach and acquiring better
training aids such as balls and soccer kit for the team,” said coach, Siboniso
Ndwandwe
“However the boys all belong to
local soccer clubs so they have been training every day,” said Ndwandwe. “Their
club coaches all know about the trip and are also helping to keep the boys fit
and sharp.”
Ndwandwe says that the players
are technically good but their defending needs to be tightened up before the
trip and he will be working on this hard over the next few months. “We
know that we will be competing against players that are much taller and physically
stronger than us, so we need to be able to defend well.”
Schedule for the Danone
Nations Cup
14th and 15th
November: Qualifications Phases - Sao Paulo (Brazil)
16th November:
World Final - Sao Paulo (Brazil)
The 32 participating
countries:
Algeria
Argentina
Australia
Belgium
Brazil
Bulgaria
Canada
Chile
China
England
France
Germany
Indonesia
Ireland
Italy
Japan
Mexico
Morocco
Netherlands
Paraguay
Portugal
Romania
Russia
Saudi Arabia
South Africa
South Korea
Spain
Tunisia
Turkey
Ukraine
Uruguay
USA
World Final Winners
2013 France
2012 South Korea
2011 Brazil
2010 Mexico
2009 South Africa
2008 France
2007 South Africa
2006 Reunion Island
2005 Russia
2004 Spain
2003 South Africa
2002 Argentina
2001 Reunion Island
2000 France
ends
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About Danone
Danone
Southern Africa is part of the Danone Group, one of the fastest-growing food
companies in the world. Danone is present in over 120 countries across
all continents. With 160 plants and around 100,000 employees, the Danone Group
is the number one worldwide for Fresh Dairy Products. Danone’s mission is to
bring health through food to as many people as possible.
One of the core values of the Danone Nations Cup
tournament is to encourage young people to believe in their dreams. Through
this initiative Danone offers a sporting event that reaches out to and inspires
millions of children all over the world
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