Young Footballers Compete for European Championship Title at Volkswagen Junior European Masters 2008

10 Nations take part in final near Salzburg on Friday and Saturday

Wolfsburg / Anif, 28 May 2008 -- The final of the Volkswagen Junior European Masters 2008 unfolds this Friday and Saturday (May 30/31, 2008) in the USK Anif stadium near Salzburg, Austria. Over the last few months, the national Junior Masters teams from 10 European countries qualified for this final. Germany is represented by VfL Wolfsburg.

Volkswagen Junior European Masters 2008: Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn joins the teams at the Volkswagen German Junior Masters final on May 10, 2008 in the Volkswagen Arena

The Volkswagen Junior Masters has enjoyed growing popularity since it was launched in 2001. "The Junior Masters is a series of youth soccer tournaments at local to international level and has become pretty popular ever since the final played two years ago which took place in Germany around the time of the FIFA World Cup," Dieter Burdenski, former German national goalkeeper and the organizer of the youth soccer tournament series for Volkswagen, explained. The fact that the 2008 final is also being held as preparations for the 2008 UEFA European Football Championship reach their climax is no coincidence, but rather underscores the importance of fostering young talent: "There is enormous talent in this 10- 12-year old age group which can be encouraged and developed by such national and international tournament series."

The final in Anif and an Austria versus Germany match

Under the patronage of Ursula Piëch, the 10 teams will compete against each other in the final tournament this Friday and Saturday. They will play in two groups (a draw will decide the groupings), and playing time will be 2 x 10 minutes. In the event of a draw at the end of the group round, the winning team will be decided by a penalty shoot-out, making for plenty of tension and excitement as the decision on the teams to play in the final and the third-place play-off is made.

A further highlight is waiting for spectators at the Volkswagen Junior European Masters final during half-time, when classic teams from Germany and Austria meet for a reunion among many famous former national players. This match will be broadcast live by Deutsches Sportfernsehen (DSF) from 2:30 p.m.

The victory ceremony for the three best teams will take place at around 4:30 p.m. with the trophies being presented by Jochen Sengpiehl, Head of Volkswagen Brand Marketing.

Volkswagen sponsors young soccer talent

In Germany, the tournament was held for the ninth time in the 2007/2008 season, with 333 teams from all over the country taking part. In Austria, the series was held for the first time – and proved enormously successful. VW’s Austrian importer Porsche Austria closed the registration process once the number of applications had reached 124, as that stretched the qualifying rounds to the limits of their organizational capabilities. "This enormous echo from Austria confirms the very positive response to this kind of sport sponsoring for Volkswagen outside Germany, too," Rainer Brensing, Volkswagen marketing manager responsible for sport sponsoring, commented. Soccer is a sport for hobby players and top performers alike, and inspires both young and old all over the world. "We are specifically aiming to support young talent with this initiative and we are confident that Volkswagen, as Europe’s top automaker, can make a small but valuable contribution to fostering the enthusiasm of 10- to 12-year old soccer players for the sport."

The idea is simple, yet very effective: Volkswagen dealers contact local soccer clubs, encouraging them to register their junior teams for the competition. The clubs are provided with competition soccer shirts and regional tournaments are organized. The clubs are not required to make a financial contribution. Volkswagen even sponsors the final tournaments and arranges food and board for the teams.

730 junior teams competed throughout Europe

Over the past few months, 730 junior teams with over 9,500 young players took part in the European qualifying rounds, making the Volkswagen Junior European Masters the biggest youth football tournament in Europe and the world and the most popular sport marketing instrument used by Volkswagen dealers. Girls competed in some of the national qualifying rounds, again confirming that young female talent can play the very best soccer, too.

VfL Wolfsburg won the German final in the Volkswagen Arena in Wolfsburg a fortnight ago, and the team from HIB Graz-Liebenau emerged victorious in Austria. The winners of the other national finals are as follows:
EPS Kavalas (Greece), U.S. Stezzanese (Italy), U.D. Las Palmas (Spain), AFC D1 (Netherlands), Spartak Moscow (Russia), Malmö FF (Sweden), FC Basel (Switzerland), Fenerbahce Istanbul (Turkey).

The provisional squads for the classic teams:
Germany:
Dieter Burdenski, Goalkeeper
Andreas Reinke, Goalkeeper
Rainer Bonhof
Ulrich Borowka
Jörg Heinrich
Günther Hermann
Michael Schulz
Stefan Schnoor
Frank Neubarth
Wolfgang Rolff
Lothar Matthäus
Claus-Dieter Wollitz
Michael Preetz
Manfred Kaltz

Austria:
Klaus Lindenberger, Goalkeeper
Otto Konrad, Goalkeeper
Michael Streiter
Peter Schöttel
Toni Pfeffer
Wolfgang Feiersinger
Franz Weber
Andreas Herzog
Peter Stöger
Reinhold Hintermaier
Manfred Linzmaier
Alfred Hörtnagl
Peter Pacult
Roland Kirchler
Kurt Jara, Trainer

Source: Volkswagen

Bookmark/Search this post with:

 •    •    •    •    •    •    •    •    •    •