Sutherland Sharks kick off Manchester United Premier Cup in style
The hungry Sharks were too classy for their North American finalists as goals to Chris Naumoff and Peter Makrillos sent Sutherland into raptures at grabbing their first points of the competition.
In the second match the Sharks were well on top against their Malaysian counterparts but could not hit the back of the net settling for a point.
Pitted in a tough group, Sutherland have two matches remaining against Spanish giants Barcelona and hosts Manchester United set to take place on Wednesday (Thursday evening AEST).
As it stands, Sutherland are currently leading the group and will hope that they can secure positive results against their Spanish and English counterparts to progress to the latter stages of the Manchester United Premier Cup.
It has been a busy week for the Oceania representatives as the Sharks have been busily preparing themselves at a chance to make a name for themselves in arguably one of the best youth tournaments in the world.
On Monday, twenty of the best under-15 teams in the world gathered at the Opening Ceremony & Draw for the World Finals of the Manchester United Premier Cup at Manchester United’s Carrington training complex this evening. The group and knockout stages of the tournament take place from 4-6 August at Carrington whilst the grand finale will be played out at Old Trafford’s “Theatre of Dreams” on Saturday 7 August at 12:30; following the unveiling of United’s new first team line-up in Open Training.
It was on Monday the Sharks found out their fate as they assembled along with all other participants of the Cup as host Steve Bower welcomed all teams to the 17th edition of the tournament founded by Nike and the 8th year since Manchester United added their name to the event in which more than 1.1 million youngsters have shared the passion.
It was a who?s who of guests as a rousing reception greeted Red Devils team captain Gary Neville who called up all twenty-team captains from around the world before Manchester United coach Sir Alex Ferguson and English and Red Devils legend Sir Bobby Charlton officiated the all-important draw.
The groups were as follows:
Group A – Newcastle United; Paris Saint-Germain; Torino FC; Pachuca & Shillong Lajong.
Group B – Right to Dream Academy; Werder Bremen; Bucaspor; Colo Colo & Changchun Yatai.
Group C – Manchester United; FC Barcelona; Alta Loma Arsenal; Sutherland Sharks & MSS Kedah.
Group D – Orlando Pirates; Internacional; FC Porto; Kyoto Sanga & Ulsan Hyundai.
Current Standings after Round 2
Team Name | P | W | L | D | Gls | GD | Pts |
Sutherland Sharks | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
FC Barcelona | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 3 |
Alta Loma Arsenal SC | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | -1 | 3 |
Manchester United | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -2 | 3 |
MSS Kedah | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | -1 | 1 |
-By Mark Stavroulakis