27 Feb 2024
An under-19 squad from Aspire Academy, which included some players as young as 16, gained valuable experience at the 6th edition of the Mohammed VI Academy tournament in Morocco.
The event attracted 12 teams, from 11 different nations with the squad from Dutch club Ajax emerging the overall winners with a win over Denmark’s FC Copenhagen in the final.
Aspire Academy were ranked seventh overall as they finished the tournament ahead of Strasbourg, Turkey’s Galatasaray, Sporting Braga from Portugal as well as Moroccan side FUS Rabat and Liverpool.
In their opening game of the tournament, Aspire produced a memorable 5-1 win over English giants Liverpool before losing 2-0 to Spanish club Sevilla.
The results were good enough for Aspire to progress to the quarter-finals where they lost 4-2 to hosts, Mohammed VI Academy.
Following that defeat Aspire took part in the play-offs for the minor places where they lost to Senegal’s Generation Foot 1-0 before they won their second match of the tournament beating French side Strasbourg 1-0.
The team’s Head Coach Abderrazak Hedider recognised the importance of playing against top-quality opposition.
“This is one of the most prestigious football tournaments for this age group,” he said.
“Taking part in this tournament was very important for us (as coaches) and for our players to gain more experience by playing opponents with differing football philosophies from around the globe.”
“This is going to help them develop better for the challenges ahead.
“This was a high-level competition, and we faced some really good teams where our players performed really well and gave their opponents a tough time.”
The 20-man squad that travelled to the Moroccan capital Rabat was made up of 17 current Aspire student-athletes and also featured three players who are part of the Academy’s European Experience Project.