Curtworth Masango
CITY Academy say they used the just-ended football festival at Fallsway Arena Lusaka, home of SuperSport United football schools, to prepare for their upcoming trip to Dubai for the Gulf Winter Cup tournament.
The Gulf Winter Cup tournament is set for November 22-24.
City Academy have in recent years toured several professional clubs in Europe and have one of their players, Donnel Chitima, tied with Manchester City. The club travelled with four age groups, the Under-15s, Under-13s and Under-11s.
The Under-15s and Under-13s won all their matches with the Under-15s leaving a lasting impression as youngsters Donnel Chitima, Trust Muchemwa and Keith Mupupuni impressed.
The academy safely returned to the country on Monday. Coach Sean Guthrie was impressed by the overall performance of the boys.
“It was a good exposure trip for our boys. The boys really enjoyed it, especially the Under-15s. They are star-studded and are no strangers to international football.
“They gave an impressive show with their livewire Chitima leading the attack that scored a total of 12 goals in just four matches while the team maintained clean sheets.
“Unfortunately the Under-8 and Under-11 boys, known as Comrades, were unlucky as they lost all their four games with the Under-11s drawing one.
“So, it was a good initiative for the boys and we will take it as a learning curve,” he said.
City Academy director, Agripa Guti, hailed Petex Branding for promoting grassroots football and appealed to other businesses to chip in with assistance.
“I am grateful to Petex Branding for their support in promoting grassroots football.
“I want to urge all other business entities and corporations to chip in to assist football development in the country.
“Some academies lack basic training equipment and that hinders progress for the aspiring youngsters.
“Sport, in general, plays a key role in the upbringing of any child regardless of gender, race or tribe and, as an academy, we use football as an instrument to fight against drug and substance abuse,” he said.