Academie Generation Foot eyeing glory at 2023 Blue Stars/FIFA Youth Cup
Renowned Senegalese academy Generation Foot is eyeing silverware as they head into the 2023 Blue Stars/FIFA Youth Cup that kicks off on May 17 in Zurich.
Generation Foot Academy will face French side Olympique de Marseille and Swiss sides FC Zürich and FC Basel 1893 in Group A.
The Senegalese academy has garnered a reputation for being amongst the best-structured football training centers in the world, having produced stars such as Sadio Mane, Pape Matar Sarr, Ismaila Sarr, Diafra Sakho, Papiss Cisse, and many others. The current crop of teenage sensations within the institution is hoping that they can ink their names in the annals of the Blue Stars/FIFA Youth Cup.
“It is a great opportunity for us players of Academie Generation Foot to be invited to compete in the Blue Stars/FIFA Youth Cup. It is a good thing for us to play there and I think they have invited us to this competition because Generation Foot is amongst the best training centers in the world.” Allasane Sy, Generation Foot’s defensive midfielder stated.
In February 2023, Academie Generation Foot won the fifth edition of the Mohammed VI Youth Cup, overpowering Real Madrid, Academie Mohammed VI, and Fus Rabat in their run to the competition’s top prize and they now hope they can replicate this form in the Zurich tournament.
“We had a good run in the competition in Morocco where we won the cup, and we hope we can do the same thing in the Blue Stars/FIFA Youth Cup. We want to show that we’re amongst the best academies in the world. Our opponents are in for a difficult time,” Allasane Sy added.
Academie Generation Foot joins a long list of African academies such as T.P Mazembe, Fc Nania, Kaizer Chiefs, Abuja Unity Boys, Al Ahly Cairo, and Mysterious Dwarfs who have previously starred in the event.
Founded in 1898, FC Blue Stars is the oldest club in Zurich and one of the first in Switzerland to have its own training system. The club organized a tournament in 1939 to support the development of its youngsters.
FIFA took over the “Blue Stars Tournament” in 1991, before renaming it the “Blue Stars/FIFA Youth Cup” in 1995.
Some big names of world football such as Sir Bobby Charlton, David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Shabani Nonda, Leandro Paredes, Granit Xhaka, Gerard Piqué, Kaká, Jay-Jay Okocha and many more all played in the tournament in the decades that followed.
Switzerland’s FC Basel will take part in the 83rd edition of the tournament as holders of the men’s title.
