FORMER Bafana Bafana international and current Cape Town City head coach, Benni McCarthy, conducted the draw which kicked off the inaugural COPA Coca-Cola Global Cup – a first on African soil – on Wednesday.
The maiden U15 tournament takes place on the Durban beachfront on 6 October and will run through till Sunday, 8 October where both the respective girls’ and boys’ finals will be played.
The South African boys' teams will be represented by the 2017 COPA Coca-Cola Which Part Will You Play all-star team that was selected by the campaign’s ambassador, Simba Marumo, throughout this year’s COPA Coca-Cola provincial finals. The 12 teams taking part in the global competition hail from several countries across the globe ranging from Russia, Tunisia, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe. Furthermore, there will be an U15 team made up of players from the East African region and a WEMA team encompassing players from the West African region.
The COPA Coca- Cola Global Cup will also feature other icons of South African football such as former Bafana Bafana International and current Bidvest Wits midfielder Steven Pienaar who will lead an elite training session for the youth footballers. Pienaar, who boasts an impressive career spanning over 15 years in Europe, will be joined by Kaizer Chiefs legend Jabulani Mendu and COPA Coca-Cola Ambassador, Simba Marumo, in taking the U15 footballers through their paces.