Malaysia U-15 to face European counterparts in Torneo Delle Nazioni, Italy
11 Mac, 2017
KUALA LUMPUR - The Malaysian Under-15 national youth football team are set to begin their first international assignment this year by participating in the highly rated youth football tournament, Torneo Delle Nazioni that is set to take place in Gradisca d’Isonzo, Italy from 25th April to 1st May 2017.
Together with them, another 11 great footballing nations will also be participating in the tournament namely USA, Japan, England, Czech Republic, Mexico, Russia, Portugal, Croatia, Austria, Slovenia and the home side Italy.
Under the provision of Italian Football Association (FIGC), Torneo Delle Nazioni which means “Tournament of Nations” in Italian, is entering its 14th edition and has been dubbed as one of the best youth tournaments in Europe. Malaysia will be grouped with other three countries and the best two from each group will make it to the semi-final.
Akademi Mokhtar Dahari supremo, Lim Teong Kim will be leading the Malaysian charge and looking to challenge for the top accolade in the tournament after finishing last season on a high note, with Malaysia Cougars winning the second edition of SuperMokh Cup (Under-14 category) which they played against the likes of Sporting Lisbon, Manchester City and Kawasaki Frontale.
Malaysia Cougars U-14 (black) won 1-0 against Sporting Lisbon in the
Final match of SuperMokh Cup 2016 last December. It is said that handful of players from the club side will be back donning their national colours in Torneo Delle Nazioni.
On top of that, the National Football Development Programme (NFDP) are in the midst of preparing the national elites for the rigours of international football as European and Asian exposures are in the pipeline for various age groups under the programme as announced by the Youth and Sports Minister, Khairy Jamaluddin late last year.
Source - Program Pembangunan Bola Sepak Negara / National Football Development Programme
