Dubai: Fifteen international teams will be participating in the second Mina Cup, to be held from March 31 to April 5 JA Sports Centre & Shooting Club.
A total of 32 teams across four age-group categories from U12-U18 will battle for top honours with entrants covering four continents and consist of Premiership Clubs Crystal Palace and Southampton FC while the likes of New York Red Bulls, Yokohama FC, Mumbai City FC alongside the academies of Robbie Fowler and Lukas Poldolski’s club in Poland complete the line-up.
These clubs will face the football academies of the UAE, who have qualified from the national tournament in October 2022. They are consisting Miguel Salgado’s Fursan Hispania, Man City Soccer schools, Barca Academy and Go Pro Sports.
Great opportunity
Ahmed Salem, director of sports development department in DSC, said: “This tournament brings together more than 600 players, in addition to coaches and administrators, who come to Dubai from various countries and continents of the world, which contributes to supporting sports tourism. Also, these players represent 15 teams from Europe, Africa, India, the Far East and North America competing against 17 teams from private academies in the country. So it gives them a great opportunity to compete in real competitions and raise the level of their game.”
Former Manchester United & England legend Teddy Sheringham, who is the Mina Cup Ambassador, said: “I am delighted to be back for the second year supporting the Mina Cup. It’s an amazing spectacle for these young players to be involved in, which will certainly help prepare them for a potential career in professional football.”
