Morocco wins the World Final of the Danone Nations Cup at home, under the eyes of Zinédine Zidane

Morocco wins the World Final of the Danone Nations Cup at home, under the eyes of Zinédine Zidane

More than 22 000 people packed the Grand Marrakech Stadium to support the world’s biggest international football tournament for 10-12 year old

Morocco is the winner of the 2015 Danone Nations Cup World Final. They beat Mexico 3 – 1 in front of a home crowd of 22 000 to clinch the trophy.

Over 400 kids from 32 countries converged on Marrakech to participate in the world finals which were played over three days – 24^th to 26^th October.  There were a number of individual awards that were also handed out.  Best Player of the tournament went to Rayan n°11 from France, the Fair Play award went to the country of China, Best Scorer went to Taiyo n°10 from Japan with 10 goals and Best Goalkeeper to another Japanese Kai n°1. France beat the Netherlands to clinch third place.

Zinédine Zidane, Danone Nations Cup ambassador, attended the final day of play and handed out the awards and said after the final match: “A massive congratulations to Morocco for winning this year’s Danone Nations Cup World Final at home. Teams all showed tremendous skill and professionalism on the pitch and I’m very proud to be a part of this fantastic tournament which is aimed at helping children develop their passion for football and develop respect for themselves and others. I wish everyone the best of luck in the future and to keep believing in your dreams.”

South Africa came to the tournament with the shortest players, but that did not phase the youngsters when they took on a much taller and stronger Netherlands – Drawing 0 – 0 – and then going on to beat Belgium 1 – 0, but lost 2 – 0  to Saudi Arabia which placed them second on the log which put them through to the top 16.  However, the knockout phase of the tournament was not going to go in the young charges way.  They were beaten by  Germany, Bulgaria, USA and Argentina to end the log in 16^th position.

Final log:

1 Morocco	12 Brazil	23 Senegal
2 Mexico	13 USA	24 Algeria
3 France	14 Indonesia	25 Saudi Arabia
4 Netherlands	15 Argentina	26 Poland
5 Spain	16 South Africa	27 Hungary
6 Canada	17 Tunisia	28 UAE
7 Germany	18 Belgium	29 Switzerland
8 Australia	19 England	30 Russia
9 Japan	20 China	31 Italy
10 Bulgaria	21 South Korea	32 Egypt
11 Portugal	22 Romania

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Bree Primary plays crucial friendly against Wits University Academy in preparation for international world finals.

Preparations for Bree Primary School’s trip to Morocco in October, to represent South Africa at the under-12 Danone Nations Cup World football Finals, are going well.  Based on previous world finals it has been apparent that the South African players have generally been smaller than their opponents, so this year the team has been playing practice games against older, bigger teams so that they can get used to the physical challenge, and formulate tactics to counter bigger opposition.

They played a Mamelodi Sundowns Youth Academy under-13 team last month, and beat them 4 - 1 and this was followed up last week with a game against the Wits University under-13 side.

Bree lost the game 3-2, but showed plenty of tenacity and determination and gained a lot of good experience from the encounter. They rose to the challenge well and did not buckle against a powerful, experienced team.

There were some excellent performances by the Bree players, including goalkeeper Mncedisi and midfielder, Ntuthuko but it was team captain and central defender, Ntando Simayile, who led by example and was their best player on the night.

Ntando came to Bree in 2009 and has played in the Danone Nations Cup for the past two years. He was made captain this year due to his experience and his leadership qualities and is looking forward to going to Morocco.

“I want to watch all the other countries to see how they play and learn from them,” Ntando said. “I want to be a professional player one day and seeing how other countries play and how they prepare for games will benefit me.”

Ntando is very interested in Brazil. “I’m impressed with the skills and speed of Brazilian players,” he said. “They are also usually smaller, like us, yet they cope with playing against stronger bigger players. We can learn a lot from them.”

Bree beat the Sundowns team quite easily, but Ntando said Wits was a different ball game. “They were much tougher opposition and I’m happy with the way the team played. We were aggressive and went in there to win. I hope we get more practise games like that before we leave in October.”

Apart from his professional football dreams, music and dancing is Ntando’s passion and he is hoping to be a DJ one day. His favourite is DJ Zinthle. “I like her voice and the way she mixes music. I listen to a lot of music and much of it could be improved and that is what I want to do. I am going to work on a singing and dancing routine for Morocco.  I have heard that the other countries particularly like the way we dance and I don’t want to disappoint them this year.”

Some facts about Ntando:

His Hero: Hulk – he is big, green, strong, has a fantastic 6-pack, has big hands and is a hero saving people. 

Hobbies: reading and music

Favourite subject: Maths

Football hero: Andile Jali – he is Xhosa, played for Orlando Pirates and now plays in Belgium

Motto: Be disciplined, listen to your coaches, teachers and parents and learn.

Limpopo School progresses in the 2015 Danone Nations Cup

Benny’s Sports Development Academy of the Vhembe District, Makhado in Limpopo are about to enter the inter-circuit phase of the under-12 Danone Nations Cup soccer competition and, under new coach, Mbishi Mokoena, they are confident of going far in the competition this year.

Benny’s have been playing in the tournament since 2010 and only once – in 2013 – did they get as far as the district finals.

What has changed this year is the school has appointed a specialist coach to take care of the junior players (in the past they had one coach for all the age groups).

Mbishi Mokoena will take care of the under-12, under-13 and under-14 teams at the school, and has already made a difference with the under-12s, who won their zonal games quite easily, scoring seven goals in one of them.

The new coach has been impressed with his players so far. “Andries Mokgwethega has scored 3 goals out of the 8 the team scored so far, and we also have Tshimagatdzo Mokwevho. He only scored 1 goal but he assisted other players to score. I believe that those players will take the team to the nationals,” he said.

Mokoena believes passion is the key to being a successful coach. “Coaching is not just instructing players on the field, it’s about building and maintaining a relationship with different players,” he said. “You need to have the heart for it.”

Skills and experience are also required. “You need to have experienced playing soccer in order to be a coach. You can’t teach players something you don’t know about.”

While this is Mokoena’s first time coaching the under-12 team, he has done his homework before entering the Danone Nations Cup.   “I had the opportunity of watching last year’s under-12 team play and I noticed that they lacked the basics and the team was all over the field with no structure. This year we have gone back to the basics of soccer. The team has since grasped the concept and I have definitely seen a change in them. “

The challenge for Mokoena is the different roles he has to play. “The players are all boarding at the school and don’t have their parents around them, so I have to be a father figure to all of them at the same time. It’s an adjustment for me, but I am gradually getting used to the fact that I have to play different roles to the boys.”

Mokoena said the reason he got involved in coaching was to develop and nature young players’ talents and he wants to be known for developing some of the best players in the world. “I don’t see myself coaching a PSL team, I see myself coaching internationally recognised academies. 10 years from now I still want to be focussing on the development phase in soccer, coaching u-13. I believe that age group is open and willing to learn as opposed to older players who think they know everything about soccer “

Mokoena got his players to Google the Danone Nations Cup Soccer Tournament to find out more about it and to see what it is they are playing for.

“When they saw what last’s year’s winners experienced, it got them more and more excited about winning this tournament. I think that Danone is doing a great job in giving these players a chance to travel to in different parts of the world and to play a sport that they love.”

Ends

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

The call is out for primary schools to register for the 2015 Danone Nations Cup tournament

Primary schools across the country are invited to become part of the biggest football tournament for kids between 10 and 12 years old in the world by entering the 2015 Danone Nations Cup.

32 countries have started the gruelling qualifiers to identifying their team that will compete in the World Finals in Morocco later this year and South Africa is no different.  Registration has opened and all primary schools have until the 27^th February to do so.

The competition is run under the auspices of the South African Schools Football Association (SASFA) and the Department of Basic Education. Games will begin at cluster level immediately after registration closes.  The winners will progress to Regional finals culminating in the nine provincial winners playing in the National finals to determine the national champion school.

“Through the Danone Nations Cup we are reaching kids at a crucial age,” said Chantel Ehlers, communications specialist, Danone.  “We are passionate about making a difference to people’s lives and our mission is ‘Bringing health through food to as many people as possible,’ which we are achieving through this tournament.  We are also encouraging kids to believe in their dreams.”

Both the 2014 winners (Siphumelele Primary School from Inanda, KZN) and runners-up (Farrarmere Primary School from Boksburg, Gauteng) will be back in action again this year.

For Siphumelele there are only four positions that need to be filled as the rest of the 2014 winning team will be back in action again this year.  According to team manager, Emmanuel Mkhize, the trip to Brazil last year has had an immeasurable impact on the lives of all the players that went, which will help the team this year.    

“The trip to Brazil to compete in the world finals has opened the eyes of every player.  They know that there are endless opportunities awaiting them and I can see that their confidence and fighting spirit has improved dramatically.  All this helps in their approach to the game this year,” said Mkhize. “They have learnt that you can achieve anything if you put your mind and energy to it and remain focused.”

The specialist coach that took the team to Brazil last year has left and the school coach, Mr Ndwandwe, will take charge. “The kids know him well and are used to his coaching style so it will not make a difference,” Mkhize concluded.

Tebogo Ngakane, manager of the Farrarmere team, is also confident his school can win the tournament this year.  He admits that being part of the Danone Nations Cup last year was an incredible and great learning experience for the kids.

“We were proud of the team to have reached the national finals the first time – and coming second was the cherry on the cake. But that was last year and we have an excellent team again that I know can do the job,” he said. “We have also brought in a new coach, Pride Moeketsi Morosi, who has a UEFA B license, and a load of experience to go with it, to help us.”

Unlike Siphumelele, Ngakane said that the entire 2014 team has progressed to High school so it will be a new team competing this year.  “The under 10 team will be competing this year and although we still have to hold trials to finalise the Danone Nations Cup team, what I can say is that they have all played together for a number of years, which is a help.”

To enter your school in the 2015 Danone Nations Cup contact Themba Tshabalala at SASFA: themba.tshabalala@safa.net or on 084 290 0602.  You can also download the registration form on facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/DNCSouthAfrica

Ends

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