By Andreas Vou
This year’s edition of the Ayia Napa International Youth Soccer Festival recorded its highest number of teams in its history as over 300 sides from around the island of various age groups took part in Cyprus’ biggest youth tournament.
The five-day tournament came to a close on Wednesday afternoon with the ten finals across all of the different youth categories were played out across the Ayia Napa sports complex.
Omonia were the biggest winners of the day as three of their academy sides claimed the top prize across various age groups. The first trophy of the day went to Omonia’s 2003 birth year group who defeated Campus Sportivo in a comprehensive 4-0 win, while both 1999 and 2000 teams won their finals by 2-0 and 1-0 respectively.
Other notable results were Anorthosis’ 7-0 win in the 2005 category against Campus Sportivo while Olympiacos Piraeus (Limassol branch) defeated Liopetri 7-1 in the 2008 age group.
One player who caught the eye of many at the tournament was Elena Aristodimou, who plays for the Limassol branch of the Omonia youth academy in the U12s age group.
Young Elena plays in an all-boys team and was one of the standout players in the tournament before her side was knocked out in the ‘mini-derby’ match against APOEL at the quarter-final stage. She recently went to London for a trial with English giants Arsenal who were impressed with her abilities and have since offered her a contract which is now being considered.
Generally, scouts from around the continent attended the tournament in the hope of spotting some of the island’s best up and coming talents. Cyprus has become a more popular destination in recent years for scouts of top clubs around Europe with a number of youngsters being invited to trials.
Evidence of more Cypriot youngsters being picked up by top sides from abroad and the success it can bring was highlighted in the recent full international match between Cyprus and Belgium where Grigoris Kastanos came on to make his senior debut. The 17-year-old was signed by Juventus last year.
Results:
1999
Omonia – Mundialito 2-0
2000
Pascal – Omonia 0-1
2001
APOEL – City FC 1-0
2002
ΑΕL – Olympiacos Nicosia* 1-1 (penalties)
2003
Omonia – Campus Sportivo 4-0
2004
Enosis – Galacticos/ Nuevo Campo 3-1
2005
Campus Sportivo – Anorthosis 0-7
2006
Galacticos/ Nuevo Campo – City FC 2-0
2007
Paralimni Kids Soccer – Galacticos/ Nuevo Campo 2-7
2008
Liopetri – Olympiacos Piraeus (Limassol branch) 1-7
