Dubai: The UAE’s It’s Just Football (IJF) Academy beat Danish second-tier side Fremand Amager’s Under-18s 2-1 in Copenhagen on Saturday ahead of their participation in this week’s Gothia Cup — the largest youth football tournament in the world — in Gothenburg, Sweden, from July 18-23.
They will now be hoping to beat their previous best at this event, when they reached the Last 64 in their only other appearance in the competition in 2009, when the team was under the previous name of the Umbro Youth Academy.
The IJF Academy team competing in Sweden consists of 20 players aged 16-17-years-old hailing from a range of schools across Dubai.
They will be one of 1,600 teams from 80 nations taking part in 4,500 games across 110 fields in Gothenburg.
They made their debut in the Dubai Amateur Football League (DAFL) men’s division last season finishing 10th in the 13-team fourth division and will now be looking to see how they fare against some of the best youth teams in the world.
This is only their second appearance at the Gothia Cup, but previous summer tours have seen them visit England, Spain, Finland and Denmark.
“This is the seventh year taking one of our academy teams for a summer trip, with the aim to offer them an experience in a professional club environment and at the biggest tournament in the world. We hope they go away and do as well as they can as both individuals and as a team. Most importantly we hope they create memories that last for years to come,” said IJF managing director Chris Brown.
IJF kick off their campaign against Swedish side Tidaholms GIF on Monday and also face English and French sides in their group.
The Gothia Cup has been held annually since 1975 and has seen the likes of Andrea Pirlo, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Alan Shearer make their breakthroughs.
IJF has also had success in creating players. Sixteen-year-old Maltese striker Andrea Borg signed for English third-tier side Peterborough United in April.
The academy is based at the Jebel Ali Centre of Excellence but teams train at a range of venues across Dubai.
