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The 17th Puskás-Suzuki Cup begins in a month’s time and the best U17 teams will travel to Felcsút (Fejér county, near Budapest), with Slavia Praha from the Czech Republic joining the eight-team field this year for the first time, Nemzeti Sport reports.
On the occasion of Ferenc Puskás’ 98th birthday, this year’s Puskás-Suzuki Cup press conference was held on April 1, at the Ferenc Puskás Football Academy in Felcsút to announce the tournament’s group and schedule.
The Puskás-Suzuki Cup, one of the most prestigious international U17 football tournaments, has been organized by the Puskás Academy since 2008, and this year is open to youngsters born in 2008, the year of the first tournament. The original concept of the tournament was to bring together teams closely associated with the career of Ferenc Puskás.
The Puskás Academy, Budapest Honvéd, Real Madrid, and Panathinaikos have always been involved, but
the tournament, which only consisted of four teams in 2008, has now grown to eight, with teams from world-famous clubs and even Australia and Brazil taking part each year.
Real Madrid are six-time winners, Budapest Honvéd five-time winners, but Ferencváros, KRC Genk, CR Flamengo, and the Puskás Academy have also won the Cup once.
At the press conference, Lőrinc Mészáros, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Felcsút Foundation, recalled the academy’s namesake, Ferenc Puskás, who would have turned 98 on April 1. He pointed out that the institution was named after the Hungarian football legend in 2007, just 18 years ago.
The chairman described the Puskás-Suzuki Cup as an international tournament where young footballers can showcase their skills, many of whom aspire to an international career. Among Hungarian footballers, he named Zsolt Nagy, Roland Sallai, Ádám Gyurcsó, and Roland Szolnoki as examples of players who went on to win championships or play abroad and on the senior national team.
Balázs Tóth, director of Puskás Academy, explained that in addition to the host’s age group team, Budapest Honvéd U17 and six-time tournament winners Real Madrid will also be taking part. Also competing for the trophy are Panathinaikos from Greece, Sporting CP from Portugal, and KRC Genk from Belgium, while 36-time Italian champions Juventus Turin are taking part for the second time, and the youngsters of Slavia Praha from the Czech Republic are making their first appearance at the tournament.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán (R) presents the silver medal to a Sporting CP player at the Puskás-Suzuki Cup 2024 awards ceremony. Photo: MTI/Miniszterelnöki Sajtóiroda/Benko Vivien Cher
Group A draw features Juventus, Sporting, Panathinaikos, and Puskás Academy, while Group B includes Real Madrid, Genk, Slavia Praha, and Budapest Honvéd.
On the final day, the play-offs will be based on the group placings. The bronze medal match and the final will take place in the Pancho Arena, as has always been the case since the stadium was inaugurated in 2014.
Via Nemzeti Sport, Featured image: Facebook/Orbán Viktor