The preliminary Myanmar U-12 team that will take part in the U-12 Junior Soccer World Challenge 2024, a competition that is attracting a lot of interest, is now training in Mandalay, according to the Myanmar Football Federation.
The U-12 Junior Soccer World Challenge tournament has been held in Japan since 2013. The first tournament was held on 27 August, 2013. Among the 12 teams, Barcelona beat Liverpool and won the championship.
Interest in the competition has increased, with rising participation from Premier League clubs such as Arsenal and Manchester City, German club Bayern Munich, and teams from China, Thailand, Singapore, Australia and Nigeria.
In the 2023 tournament, Myanmar U-12 team took part and came up against Barcelona, the most successful team, in the group.
This year’s competition will be held in Chiba, Japan from 20 to 23 August and a total of 48 teams, including Myanmar U-12 team, will compete. Myanmar will play against Japanese clubs – Tozuka Football Club, Junior Kashima Antlers Norte and FC Basara Hyogo- in Group D.
The preliminary Myanmar U-12 team is being trained by former Myanmar international U Min Thu as head coach. They will be training at the Mandalay Football Academy until 2 August and will return to Yangon on 3 August to continue their preparations.
The preliminary Myanmar U-12 team consists of 28 players and the final 18 players will be selected to take part in the U-12 Junior Soccer World Challenge 2024 after training and friendly matches.
Htet Oo Maung/ZN
