Olympic Measure Youth In Europe
Words: Matt Dorman
Image: Olympic FC
Olympic FC will compare its qualities to Europe’s young elite at the highly-regarded Generali CEE Cup in Prague from Wednesday.
A squad comprised of PlayStation® 4 NPL Queensland Youth Men, U18 Boys and U16 Boys departed on Sunday to compete at the 12-team U19 tournament, which features the likes of Swansea City and famed Brazilian outfit Fluminense amongst a selection of Central and Eastern European sides.
Olympic has been grouped with Croatian giants Hajduk Split and Czech Republic’s most successful club Sparta Prague, both regularly involved in the UEFA Champions League at senior level.
Technical Director Gabor Ganczer, who is in the process of completing an AFC Pro-Diploma, will lead Olympic’s party in a bid to measure the Yeronga outfit’s talent production.
“I think it’s important to check against the world where you are at in youth development,” Ganczer said.
“Our squad is made up of three different teams so we don’t expect them to play perfect football but it’s a chance to see their character and technical ability against high-level opposition.”
Far from being just a holiday, the tournament is an opportunity for a number of Olympic’s youth to press their claims for higher recognition.
Australian Schoolboys representative Dylan Wenzel-Halls and defender Cory Leggett are the only players on tour to have debuted at senior level.
Ganczer hopes the broadening of horizons will accelerate the group’s development and provide insight to benefit the club’s wider development program.
“It’s good to see other football cultures which is difficult to gain here because of the distances to travel to other states and nations,” he said.
“We can experience all of that in a week which is the best learning curve we can have.
“As with everything it is easy to get there once but then you have to show something to be invited a second time. It’s not a once-off opportunity if you are good.”
Olympic opens its tournament against hometown team Sparta Prague at 8.30pm AEST on Wednesday night before taking on Hajduk Split the following day.
Each team will compete in playoffs with opponents to be determined by group standings.
This article originally appeared on the official Olympic FC website.
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