NF Academy talents in Barcelona
NF Academy talents in Barcelona
For the first time, NF Academy participated in Ibercup Barcelona and Barcelona Summer Cup in Spain. It resulted in three finals and two victories for the academy teams.
In Ibercup Barcelona, NF Academy’s 2007 team made a clean tournament winning all 7 games with a final goal difference of 43-8. They went to the final and won against Ujbuda Budapest by 3-2.
The 2003 team also went all the way in the tournament, where Spanish Arucas Fusion was beaten by 4-3 in the final.
“I am very pleased with both the players and the teams in both of these tournaments. The players performed well as a team, and we became competitive against almost every group we faced. This was our first two victories through NF Academy international. I think this is just the start of something bigger”, says NF Academy International Director Gonçalo Nunes.
An adventure for everyone
One hour north of Barcelona in beautiful Lloret del Mar was the stay of both players and parents. With a fantastic sight to calm both the mind and body, where one could enjoy the beach life and take relaxing walks along the seafront, parents had plenty of choices between the tournament matches.
“There was a great effort from the players and good organisation of the teams as the main reasons for this success. It is very good to see how that the players’ families have enjoyed their stay and that they created a great environment to managers, coaches and players”, adds Nunes.
The players started the NF Academy’s NF Selection program with four quality training sessions before the start of the group stage. Many of the players have been involved in previous NF Academy programs for a while, where they have played major tournaments and been involved in training camps.
“Many of these players come from local programs and international tournaments with us earlier this year or last year. The results here in Barcelona are somehow the visible proof of the progress they have had through training as a team on a more permanent basis. Individually, players are increasing, and as a team we are competitively measured against the teams we meet, who train 3-4 sessions together every week”, says the International Academy Director.
Beating all competition
The youngest players on the 2007 team didn’t wait long to showcase their talents. In group B, the tournament started with a victory by 9-2 against North American. Then Portuguese Costifoot was beaten 4-1 before the Laliga Academy was beaten 5-1 and Euro Sport Brasil 12-0. The group victory resulted in a quarterfinals match against Red Devils from New Zealand, where the NF Academy talents took home victory with 7-2.
They met Costifoot again in the semi-final, where three goals of Sondre Vindenes gave the victory to the Portuguese academy. It all came to an end in the final, with a victory against Hungarian Ujbuda FC Budapest.
Exciting until the end
In the 2003 class, NF Academy opened with a 1-2 loss against Spanish Arucas Fusion, followed by five straight wins in the group stage. In the semi-finals, they won 1-0 against North American which gave them the chance to get revenge from the first game against the Spaniards.
After a 4-3 win against Arucas Fusion, NF Academy could finally cheer for its second trophy in its third final in two weeks.
Looking ahead
The next training sessions for the NF Academy’s teams are the NF International camps — in Esbjerg and Odense in late July. Then there are 8 cities in Norway that receive the same program with international opportunities in August.
Regarding tournaments, it is still possible to apply for the final spots in one of NF Academy’s teams for NF Elite Selection Nordic Invitational in Denmark 28.7-4.8.
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