Juventus, Man City academies among teams to play in Oman youth cup

Muscat: Juventus’ academies in Oman and Saudi Arabia and Manchester City’s soccer school in Abu Dhabi are among at least 12 teams that will send the best and brightest of their youth players to take part in the Muscat International Unity Cup, which is set to take place on 18 and 19 February.

They will be joined by academy prospects from three Omani professional clubs – Muscat Club, Oman Club and Seeb Club – as well as a host of private academies in the country: Muscat Football Academy, ESG Academy, Junior Starz, Al Mawaleh Academy, and Smart Soccer Academy from Sohar.

Also travelling to Muscat to take part in the Unity Cup are Pro Active Academy from the United Arab Emirates and Premier League Football Academy from Qatar.

“All of the teams are arriving on the 17th,” said Chuck Martini, tournament organiser and head coach for Muscat Football Academy. “We will be holding it at Muscat Club, who are one of the teams participating as well. We are, however, waiting to see if Seeb Stadium can be given to us, but nevertheless, our location is confirmed.”

“We also have the Al Habsi Football Academy with us,” he added. “This should be a great tournament spread across four age categories. We’ve got children born in 2010-11 in one category, 2008-09 as the second, 2006-07 is the third category, and 2004-05 as the fourth. We are looking good at the moment.”

Martini – a former Morocco international goalkeeper who played for Premier League sides Leicester City and Tottenham – added that with audiences now once again able to attend sporting events, hoped that it would draw youth football enthusiasts to come and check out some of the talented players taking part.

“We are happy to have gotten many domestic teams, as well as a few good ones from abroad. I think the tournament is also coming at just the right time. It’s great that we have got youth teams from some of the other GCC countries: Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.”

Muscat Football Academy have also opened a new training base at Muscat International School, providing them more opportunities for expansion and the scouting of raw talent in the country.

“We are due to start training there in the middle of February, but all of the contracts are signed, done and dusted,” said Martini. “It is good that we now have a training base in Qurum.”