Mamelodi Sundowns Under-15s are ready to showcase their talent in their debut appearances of this year’s edition of the Kevin De Bruyne’s KDB Cup held in Brussels.
The young Brazilians, coached by the trio of Simon Blangwe, Lunga Nobela, and Tshepo Makgata, are the first African team to participate in the tournament. They arrived in Brussels earlier this week in preparation for the tournament, which begins on Saturday, 10 June.
Wednesday, as part of their preparations, the youngsters drew 1-1 with the Royal Union St Gilloise Under-16 team of Belgium. However, what pleased Coach Simon the most was the opportunity to gain valuable match experience and training prior to the upcoming competition.
“I am happy that we were able to secure a friendly match as part of our tournament preparation. We faced a team that recently finished second in their local league,” Coach Blangwe stated.
“They proved to be a very physical opponent with a solid defensive structure and were well-coached. Despite the draw, I believe that we gained valuable experience and showed our competitiveness on the field.
“Based on the lessons gained today, I am confident in our chances on Saturday when we play against Barcelona.”
Coach Lunga also believes that the match provided a glimpse of what European teams will bring to the competition.
“This friendly match was instrumental in calming the nerves of our boys as it helped us understand the nature of some of the opponents we will be facing,” said Coach Nobela.
“We displayed good confidence on the ball and our ball rotation was excellent. Our transitions were spot on and it was just unfortunate that we didn’t secure the win.
“The boys understand that we are not here on holidays but rather to compete and fight for positive results in this competition.”
Mamelodi Sundowns from South Africa and Palmeiras from Brazil are the first non-European teams to compete in this year’s sixth edition of the tournament.
The young Brazilians are competing in Group 1 against defending champions and two-time winners Barcelona and Manchester City from Spain and England, respectively.
Group 2 is comprised of three formidable teams: Bayern Munich of Germany, Palmeiras of Brazil, and Odense of Denmark.
Group 3 includes the German team RB Leipzig, the French team PSG, and the Belgian team Club Brugge.
Group 4 is comprised of illustrious clubs such as Real Madrid of Spain, Ajax of the Netherlands, and KAA Gent of Belgium.
The illustrious roster of previous participants speaks volumes about the KDB Cup’s reputation. The tournament has been graced by notable figures such as Jamal Musial, Charles de Ketelaere, and Eric Garcia. Gavi, the current Golden Boy award winner and a star for Barcelona and Spain, is another example of the calibre of players to emerge from the KDB Cup.
