Team England secure fifth best team in the World
Friday 14 October 2011By ESFA Office
Last Updated:
10/02/2021 11:49:14
Team England pictured at Real Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu
A quality England Under-12 team secured fifth place in the World Final of the Danone Nations Cup played in Madrid over the weekend of 7 to 9 October 2011.The last game was played in front of a crowd of over 45,000 at Real Madrid FC’s impressive Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. As well as the opportunity to play on such a prestigious pitch, the Danone World Finals Ambassador Zinedine Zidane took time out to meet the players. He presented the Danone Nations Cup 2011 which saw Brazil lifting the trophy.
The England team was made up of 9 pupils from Cardinal Heenan Sports College in Liverpool and 5 from Leicester’s Lancaster School. They performed consistently well throughout the competition, beating Ireland, New Zealand, Germany, Mexico and Canada and drawing with host country Spain and with South Korea. Their only defeat was against Russia.
To finish fifth in such a competitive international tournament (in which 2.5 million children take part every year) is an incredible achievement!
Groupe Danone has provided a wonderful opportunity for these children to experience positive sporting activity. The company has achieved its objectives of providing health through food to as many youngsters as possible. More generally, the Danone Nations Cup promotes the value of sport among younger people and their families.
Make sure your school enters the ESFA Under 12 Danone Nations Cup next season if it hasn’t already enrolled for this season.
Yacine Rachi, England and Cardinal Heenen Coach commented. “It’s been a really hot couple of days in Spain so not England’s ideal weather conditions. But the boys have done so well. I’m extremely proud of them.
“Coming out of the tunnel at the Bernabeu Stadium was the most amazing experience, it was unbelievable! The kids’ parents and the English support was positioned right behind the goal, so when we scored the kids went straight over to them to celebrate. As you can imagine the atmosphere was incredible!”
“They have finished higher up in the Danone Nations Cup World Final table than any other English team in the history of the tournament, and they’ve done that despite the team being made up from two different schools. By the end of the tournament you would have thought that they’d always played together!
For more information on the Danone Nations World Cup go to http://www.danonenationscup.com/
