The Lanzarote Youth Football Association continues to work with the young talents of the Lanzarote youth academy, allowing many of them to travel outside our borders and demonstrate their football potential. A cadet category selection travels this weekend to Bilbao, where they will play the XI Piru Gainza Tournament.
The Piru Gainza Tournament will be held in the Basque town of Basauri and is organized by the "Piru Gainza" Athletic Club de Bilbao Fan Club. In its previous editions, it has established itself as one of the leading tournaments on the national scene. It started as a cadet, children's and youth category tournament, focusing in recent seasons on the cadet category.
Important teams from the national scene will participate in the eleventh edition, which speaks volumes about the prestige of the tournament. This edition features the participation of Athletic Club de Bilbao, Deportivo de la Coruña, Real Sociedad, Atlético de Madrid and Selección de Basauri. They are joined by the participation of the Lanzarote Youth Football Association (ABF).
Víctor Páez is the coach of the AFB Lanzarote cadet category and has drawn up a list of 17 players. It is worth noting the absence of several players from Orientación Marítima, who cannot travel to Bilbao as they have to play the Canary Islands Cadet Championship with their team.
The 17 players selected by the AFB Lanzarote cadet category are as follows:
Altavista CF: Alejandro Álvarez Martínez, Alejandro García Cabrera, David Cedrés Barreto, Iván Pérez Hernández, Jesús Rodríguez Tavío, José Carlos Santana Merino, Luis Bahillo O´Mahoney
UD Lanzarote: Doramas Ortega Rodríguez, Francisco Gil Rodríguez, José Pereira Betancort, Yeray Rodríguez Hernández
CD Tahíche: Daniel Grimón Brito, Dario Guadalupe Rodríguez
CD Teguise: Aithami Hernández Delgado, Isidoro Blanco Déniz
Puerto del Carmen: Aldemar Morales Valencia
Torrelavega: José López León
The CD Tahíche player, Dario Guadalupe, will not be able to play in this tournament, as he was injured in one of his team's last training sessions. Despite the injury, the members of the AFB Lanzarote have rewarded the player with the trip, as he is one of the regular players in each of the calls made so far.
The AFB Lanzarote has been placed in group A together with Athletic Club de Bilbao and Deportivo de la Coruña. On Saturday, starting at 11:15 am, they will face the Galician team and that same day, starting at 7:00 pm, they will measure forces against Athletic. The champion of each group will play the grand final on Sunday morning and the second-placed teams will have to compete in the consolation final.
The AFB Lanzarote cadet category expedition is scheduled to travel to Bilbao this Thursday, where they will be concentrated in the town of Basauri.