FC Real, Africa’s champions of England
Roodepoort-based soccer club FC Real's U/15 team returned home from Manchester, England as heroes, having won the Manchester Cup trophy.
The U/15 FC Real side had the honour of representing South Africa as well as Africa at the prestigious Manchester Cup in England.
The team departed for England on 27 March with hopes of simply proving that South Africa does indeed have successful youth systems.
According to head coach Bevan Bowers, the day they had landed in England, they had their first training session.
“After checking into the hotel, the first thing the boys wanted to do was get some training done to get used to the conditions,” he said.
Bevan also stated that due to England’s infamous cold and wet climate, the fields were quite slippery underfoot, making it difficult for the players to adjust at first.
“The conditions were one of the biggest problems for us, with a lot of the guys struggling with the constantly wet pitches.”
Their early exposure to the conditions that they could expect on the fields seemed to pay off as they went their entire group stage unbeaten.
The tournament got off to the worst possible start for the young boys from Roodepoort as they went down 0–1 in the first minute of their first match.
Bevan cited the different style of play that was exhibited by their opposition as the biggest difficulty.
“They played a much more direct game than we are used to, but we had to adjust quickly to stay in the game,” he said.
And stay in the game they did, grinding out a 1–1 draw.
They were second on the log after the first day’s play, and started the second day off much better than the first, claiming a 3–0 victory.
That would go a long way towards helping them secure the top spot on the log by a matter of goal difference at the end of the group stage.
This guaranteed their progression to the semifinal, which they won 1–0.
In the final, they came up against a team widely regarded as one of (if not the) best academy teams in England.
According to captain, Jaden Watson, the toughest factor was the physical advantage their opponents held.
“They were a lot bigger and more physical than our boys, which made things a lot tougher,” he said.
The match remained deadlocked until halfway through the second half, when centre forward Eddie Ndjeka scored the goal that would decide the match and earn FC Real’s U/15 team a place in history.
“I was being forced out of play on the dead ball line by one of their defenders when a last push forced me to the ground. As I was falling, I just kicked out at the ball. I was still getting up to appeal for a free kick when I noticed the ball had gone into the net,” Eddie said, describing the moment he made history.
The match would remain at 1–0 until the final whistle, to see FC Real crowned as the first African champions of the most prestigious youth tournament in England.
You can relive the moment Eddie Ndjeka won the match, as well as when they received the trophy here:
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