ASTANA – Thenational Under-17 Spanish football team won the 7th annual Kazakhstan President’s Cup tournament played at the Astana Arena on June 24-30.
National youth teams from Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, in addition to Spain, participated in the tournament.
“The development of youth football is one of the main directions for the Kazakhstan Football Federation and we pay this much attention. Work is done carefully and seriously,” said Football Federation of Kazakhstan Director of National Teams Vladimir Nigergaus. “We have every reason to hope for success in this tournament. The main objective of our team is to prepare for the European Championship qualifying match, which will be held in Hungary. The task is to exchange experiences in tournament games against teams from Europe.”
At the end of the tournament, the top three teams were awarded for their efforts. President’s Cup organisers also announced the tournament’s best players in various categories. The best goalkeeper was Behrooz Hyrum from Tajikistan, best defenseman Nicolosi Kurshavishvili of Georgia, best linebacker Spaniard Francesco Villalba. The best strikers were Daniel Villanueva from Spain and GeorgiArabidze from Georgia. Spain team captain AlenKarlezwas named the best player of the tournament.
Karlez,as the captain of his team, received the tournament trophy from the hands of Vice-President of the Football Federation of Kazakhstan and national football legend,SeildaBaishakov.
Kazakhstan President’s Cup has for three years been included in the official list of international competitions of the FédérationInternationale de Football Association(FIFA) and the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA.)
The winning team of the tournament received $10,000, therunner-upreceived $6,000, and the third place team received $4,000.
