By George Aluo
As expected, the maiden edition of the Africa Youth Cup tournament which took place in Praia Cape Verde from April 19-27 could not have been staged without some organizational challenges.
Being the very first edition of the tournament which organizers say is an answer to similar international youth tournaments outside the continent; one would expect that organizing it won’t be flawless.
But after one week of action, virtually everybody who was in Cape Verde from Africa to Europe, American and even the locals were full of praise for the event which they cannot wait to see its second edition come 2020.
Impressed by what they saw, the Cape Verdean government has since declared that they would continue to not only play host to the tournament but give it maximum support. In fact, the government is praying that more teams, especially from Africa’s soccer power house Nigeria would be part of the event next year.
Speaking to The Nigerian Xpress Sports after the closing ceremony in Praia, the Mayor of the host city, Oscar Santos said the African Youth Soccer Tournament was a fantastic football festival which Cape Verde is happy to have hosted.
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“The Africa Youth Cup tournament was one week of football Festival. We are happy Praia played host to it. Next year, we are looking forward to it. In fact we want to see more teams from Nigeria, more teams from other parts of Africa. We want to welcome teams from Brazil, Europe and other parts of the world. We are happy Benfica came to the maiden edition. For us in Praia and Cape Verde, we welcome tourists to our Island country,” Santos said.
Just like the Mayor of Praia, one of tournament sponsors, Paulo Canuto the Chief Executive Officer of SITA, a paint manufacturing outfit, the tournament is one he is proud to have identified with.
“We have seen that it is possible for us in Africa to host a good youth tournament. My company, SITA will continue to support this initiative. We would continue to do what we are doing for Cape Verdean football, especially in the area of pitch maintenance,” Canuto stated.
Ambassador of the tournament, David Mendes da Silva, who in his heyday played for the Dutch national team gave kudos to the tournament organizers declaring that he is leaving Praia happy to have accepted to play the role of an Ambassador.
The former Ajax midfielder who is of Cape Verdean decent stated: “I m happy not only to be the Ambassador of this tournament but with the tournament itself. It is great that we now have a youth tournament in Africa. The tournament has started well and it can only get better.”
Italy based Director of Tournaments Abroad Referees, Daniel Curcio whose men took charge of the matches put his comments this way: “The maiden edition of the Africa Youth Cup can pass as a huge success. As a referee, I have been part of several youth tournaments. I know what it looks like starting one. I know the challenges the organizers face. For me, this is nothing but a good start. My joy is that we are leaving Praia happy that all the teams said good things about the performance of the young referees that officiated the matches.”
Talking about officiating, it was thumbs up for the referees all the way. Coach of Bayelsa Starlets, Diepreye Tiebowei whose team lost out in the semi said the referees did a good job.
“I don’t think any of us, technical crew of the teams, have any grudge about officiating. It was top notch,” Tiebowei said.
The story of any football tournament would not be complete without the fans. The turn out at the match venues, especially in the village of Tipa Chapeu was appreciative. The locals who expressed joy over the decision of the organizers to take the games to their neighborhood rooted more for Portuguese youth side, Benfica. When Benfica lost out to Nigerian side Pawas Academy, the crowd still hugged and kissed players of Benfica. Some Benfica players and officials shed tears of joy for the love shown them by fans. Benfica may not have won the tournament, but their officials said they are leaving Praia feeling like Champions, given the kind of love shown them in and out of the match venues.
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Members of the Nigerian community in Praia also deserve some round of “gbozaas” for supporting the two Nigerian teams Restoration Starlets and Pawas Academy all the way.
President of the Nigerian community, Innocent Azubuike Anyado and his men were virtually in all the venues to cheer the Starlets and Pawas to victory. They also made the Nigerian contingent feel at home with Nigerian food.
Organizers of the tournament said they are leaving Cape Verde happy that a solid foundation has been laid. The director of Serahanasports, Godson Abba Ekadi, whose outfit partnered the Cape Verdean FA to put the tournament together said work begins immediately ahead of the second edition.
“It is a great start. We give God all the glory. We are going back to the drawing board immediately to start planning for the next edition,” Ekadi said.
On areas to work on, Ekadi without mincing word said…”we would be looking forward to welcoming more teams in 2020 and we also look forward to more sponsors being part of it. To those that have supported us this year in spite of not knowing what to expect, we say a big thank you,” Ekadi said.
On the whole, Cape Verde 2019 Africa Youth Cup tournament won by the Volcan Juniors of Cote d’Ivoire was nothing but a success story.
As a journalist who covered the tournament and saw it all, the government of Cape Verde, sponsors, organizers, fans and everybody involved in the tournament deserve nothing but praise.
I look forward enthusiastically to the show in 2020, God willing.
