Gothia Cup – A Breeding Ground for Tomorrow’s Soccer Stars

Gothia Cup in Gothenburg, Sweden, is probably the most distinguished youth soccer tournament in the world. Throughout the years 770,000 youths between the ages of 11 and 19, from over 127 different countries, have participated in the Cup and more than 1,500 teams partake each year.

Teen Players worth Millions

This year, Gothia Cup is played from 13-19 July, and even though some of the soccer players are only 16 years old, they are already worth millions. The Brazilian team Cruzeiro, which is considered to have one of the best youth teams in the world, has sent some of its most talented players to Gothia Cup this year. One of these is 16-year-old defensive midfielder José Eduardo de Araújo, or simply Zé Eduardo or Dudu, who according to experts is worth a whopping $16 million. Dudu is 164 centimeter tall and is extremely quick and has very good technique. He reminds a bit of his big role model Robinho and is a very important player to Brazil’s U-16 squad.

Future Soccer Stars

Cruzeiro’s International Coordinator, Pedro Moreira, has told the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet that some of tomorrow’s soccer stars partake in the tournament. And he is probably right, considering that lots of today’s soccer stars actually participated in Gothia Cup as teenagers, including the now retired striker Alan Shearer from England, who played in the tournament in 1985. Other famous soccer players who have played in Gothia Cup as teens are: Xabi Alonso (Liverpool FC) from Spain, Andrea Pirlo (A.C. Milan) and Cristian Zaccardo (VfL Wolfsburg) from Italy, Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal) from Togo, Kieron Dyer (West Ham United) from England, and Julio Baptista (Real Madrid) from Brazil.

No wonder scouts and agents flock to this annual tournament hoping to find the Cristiano Ronaldos and David Beckhams of the future…

[Sources: Wikipedia, Gothiacup.se, Aftonbladet]