Every year, youth teams from renowned football academies around the world gather in southern Portugal for the Algarve Elite Cup. Last year, RSCA’s U16 team impressively finished third in the international tournament. This year, our boys from the U13’s were invited to participate. They also secured third place after an impressive run and a brilliant victory against Arsenal in the third-place match.
RSC Anderlecht was drawn in a group with SL Benfica (Portugal), SC Braga (Portugal), Brighton & Hove Albion (England), IF Brommapojkarna (Sweden), Elite London Academy (England), and ISR (Netherlands).
The Mauves started the tournament with two wins against Elite LA (5-1) and ISR (4-0). Afterwards, our youngsters narrowly lost 1-0 to SC Braga but bounced back against Brighton (1-0) and IF Brommapojkarna (3-0). In the final group match, they were defeated by Portuguese top club SL Benfica: 2-0.
RSCA advanced as the second team in the group to the tournament semifinals, where they faced New York Red Bulls. Against the American team, our boys again lost by the smallest margin. In the third-place match, they battled English powerhouse Arsenal. After a 1-0 victory, the young Mauves returned from Portugal with the bronze medal.
Congratulations to our U13 for their impressive third-place finish at the Algarve Elite Cup.