ZIMBABWEAN junior football players continue to invade the Spanish football circles as four more Friendly Academy players joined the Espanyol Football Academy after a successful one week trial stint at the club.
By Our Staff
The four players: Munashe Kaseke (15), Simbarashe Maravanyika (18), Harley Matarutse (15) and Takosheswa Nyabadza, together with Friendly Academy junior coach Partridge Muskwe, were in Spain for the trials which were held at Ciudad Deportiva del RCD Espanyol de Barcelona two weeks ago.
An email directed to Friendly Academy and signed by Espanyol’s Sports International Projects manager Oscar Riera ackowledges that the four impressed during the trials.
According to Muskwe, the four junior players took part in a friendly match against the Catalonia Under-20 side and the match finished goalless.
They went on to take part in yet another match against Catalan Under-20 team which Espanyol won 2-0 with Matarutse opening the scoring.
The development is poised to improve the competitiveness of the national youth teams in the same fashion that such composition has boosted West African teams who have taken global youth tournaments by storm.
“The boys performed well during the trials. From the way they played, it was evident that good deals were imminent. Most of the Espanyol coaches spoke highly of Zimbabwean talent. It did not take them time to get used to other team players,” Muskwe said.
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The four players will however only return to Spain in September this year.
“To us, it’s a plus. Everything that they will be doing from now on should be guided by Espanyol. Come September they will all be leaving to attend school in Espanyol as their schools calendar starts in that month, added Muskwe.
The four brings the total number of youths that Friendly Academy has helped get scholarships in different countries to 18.
Austin Rwodzi was the first to make a break- through into Spain when he joned Espanyol Pro Team in January with Tafadzwa Magombo having finalised his move recently.
Two more players are awaiting approval from their parents but have already gotten the nod from the academy. This will bring the number of players in Spain to eight.
Three junior players: Tendai Jirira, Valentine Murombo and Dumisani Manyange are already in the United States with eight more players that passed an trial stint that was held here in Zimbabwe set to leave for the US latest January.
