CEE Cup in Prague with the Brazilians and Aston Villa. Ball for the World Cup, final in Ďolíček
After a three-year covid break, the CEE Cup youth football tournament is returning. Six youth teams in the under-19 category will be presented on July 22-26 at Sparta’s Strahov campus, at Admira in Kobylisy, and in the finals traditionally in Ďolíček in Vršovice. Palmeiras players from Brazil are defending their triumph, will Prague “S” or the team from England trouble them?
In group A Sparta with Palmeiras and Mexican Tigres. In Group B, Slavia will face England’s Aston Villa and Ukraine’s Dynamo Kyiv.
Experience is played from Friday to Sunday each time at three and five in the afternoon, and on Tuesdays there are matches for the final ranking.
The last time in 2019, the youngsters from Palmeiras were happy about the win. “We are happy that we can return to Prague after three years since the last tournament we managed to win. It is a great opportunity to confront players from academies of other continents, in addition to a different culture of life,” said the general youth manager of the Brazilian team, Joao Paulo Sampaio.
“It’s one of the biggest tournaments in this category at least in, it’s one of the best in Europe and it’s great that it’s taking place in our capital. Hats off to the organizers for bringing such teams and providing the best complete infrastructure for them,” said coach David Holoubek, who previously led Sparta’s selection at the tournament.
Previously, Matěj Pulkrab, Tomáš Souček, Alex Král, Adam Hložek or, most recently, Adam Karabec also played at this event in Prague. “We will definitely see another excellent player who will make a name for himself somewhere in the future,” added Holoubek.
Full Ďolicek for the CEE Cup final
The tournament is managed by national international referees from Germany, the Netherlands, Poland and Hungary. Matches will be broadcast live on video stream.
It is played with the adidas Al-Rihla ball, prepared for the autumn World Cup in Qatar. The final program in Ďolíček will also offer a competition with Tomáš Jun, former striker of Sparta.
“We consider it important to support youth football and we are honored to provide our stadium for the final of such an important tournament. It will certainly be a great inspiration for our young players as well,” said Bohemians director Darek Jakubowicz.
Proceeds from ticket sales will go towards the purchase of equipment for a hospital in Kharkiv, Ukraine.
“It is a great honor for us and the opportunity to be part of this tournament, where the production of academies of leading clubs from all over the world will be presented. And at a time when our country is suffering from war and stadiums are being shelled by Russian rockets, this is how we can support football in Ukraine. To give young footballers the opportunity to grow even in difficult times,” added Serhij Mochnyk, Deputy General Director of Dynamo Kyiv.
CEE Cup 2022 programme
Group A – Strahov
22. 7. 15.00 AS Sparta Prague – Tigres
23/7/15.00 Palmeiras – Tigrice
24/7/15.00 AS Sparta Prague – Palmeiras
Group B – Strahov
22/7/17.30 SK Slavia – Aston Villa
23/7/17.30 Dynamo Kyiv – Aston Villa
24/7/17.30 SK Slavia – Dynamo Kyiv
About the location
26/7/9.00 Admira: for 5th place
26. 7. 11.15 Admira: for 3rd place
26/7/18.00 Bohemians 1905: final