Cousins hope to play like Van Persie
Cousins Luca and Daniel Zanninello (both nine) will be heading to Rotterdam, in The Netherlands, at the end of the month, to fly the flag for South Africa, at an elite junior football event.
The Benoni Northerns Junior Football Club u-10 players have been chosen for a South Africa All Stars u-10 team, that will be battling it out against academy teams from the biggest clubs in England, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Portugal and other leading football countries, at the International Robin van Persie Tournament, from May 30 to May 31.
The team is drawn in Group A, with the likes of Feyenoord (Netherlands), Tottenham Hotspur (England), Club Brugge (Belgium) and Sporting CP (Portugal), and it will be a huge achievement for the South Africans if they are to advance to the semi-finals.
The City Times caught up with the boys following a Northerns u-10 game against Bedfordview Country Club, on Saturday, May 9.
Luca (a pupil at Maranatha Christian School) and Daniel (a Farrarmere Primary School pupil) both said that they were extremely excited about playing in the tournament and going to the Netherlands.
The SA All Stars selection process started last year, when clubs in and around greater Johannesburg were asked to select and send their four best players for trials.
Luca and Daniel were selected to participate in the trials and, after four sets of trials were held, the team was narrowed from hundreds of boys to just 13 u-10 players, including the Zanninello cousins.
They will be joined by an u-9 SA All Stars team, and these will be the only two teams from Africa.
The organisers and other teams are apparently extremely excited about meeting the SA All Stars members, as they are the team who are travelling the furthest.
The King’s Commissioner has also requested a special meeting with the South African teams.
The team can be followed on the “International Robin van Persie Tournament” page, on Facebook, or on the website www.robinvanpersietournament.com.
