MFA Youth Academy to take part in international tournament in Italy

The 'Torneo Citta di Cairo Montenotte (22nd Edition)' is being staged in collaboration with CONI, the FIGC and the Comune of Cairo Montenotte. The event has attracted 32 teams of youngsters between the ages of 13 and 14 years. A squad of 21 players born 1998 from the M.F.A. Academy will travel to Italy to participate in this tournament.

Nine countries will be represented, one each from clubs or youth academies in Malta, the Czech Republic, Ghana, Hungary, England (represented my Manchester City), Switzerland, Japan, Russia and Italy. Teams from the nearby peninsula will have 24 participants including those from Juventus, Milan, Inter, Genova, Sampdoria and Napoli, making it a total of 32 teams taking part in the tournament.

The competition will present a welcome test and a challenge for our youngsters who will have the opportunity to hone their skills against those of their counterparts from overseas teams in a pleasant atmosphere which is also aimed at providing the youths with a wider base of educational and character development.

There will be eight groups of four teams in the first phase, with the matches played on a round-robin basis. The first two from each group will qualify for the next phase to be played on a knock-out basis, with the tournament extending to the quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals as well as matches to determine all the final placings of the 32 participating teams.