Dinamo at ''Al Abtal International Friendly Cup''

Dinamo U-19 team will participate in the second edition of the prestigious friendly international tournament "Al Abtal U-19 International Cup" which will be held in Spain. Promoted by the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Sports, the tournament aims to promote the future stars of international soccer and strengthen ties between the participating teams.

Dinamo received an invitation to participate in a friendly tournament in which some of the participants will be Real Madrid, Liverpool, Legia, Shakhtar, Real Sociedad, Olympique Marseille as well as other quality teams.  

The competition will be held through the group stage starting in November 2021. The teams are divided into 4 groups, followed by the knock-out phase of the tournament. The cup will be held in the city of Salou, which is 110 km south of Barcelona.

Dinamo is placed in Group B together with Olympique Marseille, Real Sociedad, Valencia, Green future falcons and Saudi future falcons "White".

Club's delegation (players and coaching staff) will travel to Spain on Tuesday. In the first match Dinamo's rival will be Olympique Marseilles, on Wednesday November 3rd starting at 10:30 p.m.

List of players:

Anes Krdžalić, Ante Crnac, Bartol Barišić, Dino Mizić, Dominik Braun, Gabriel Rukavina, Ivan Mandić, Ivan Laća, Josip Mihalić, Lovro Gubijan, Luka Lukanić, Marko Soldo, Marko Novak-Stanko, Maro Katinić, Mislav Zadro, Moreno Živković, Patrik Klančir, Vinko Rozić

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GROUPS

Group A / Western Europe: Real Madrid, Liverpool, Atletico Madrid, Sporting, Green future falcons, Saudi future falcons ''White''

Group B / Mediterranean: Dinamo, Olympique Marseille, Real Sociedad, Valencia, Green future falcons and Saudi future falcons ''White''

Group C / Eastern Europe: Shakhtar, Legia, Slavia Prague, Midtjylland, Green future falcons, Saudi future falcons ''White''

Group D / Middle East: Participants will be defined soon

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GROUP B SCHEDULE

11/03/2021

OLYMPIC MARSEILLE - GNK DINAMO

12/08/2021

GNK DINAMO - VALENCIA CF

12/01/2022

REAL SOCIEDAD - GNK DINAMO

02/02/2022

GREEN FUTURE FALCONS - GNK DINAMO

03/16/2022

WHITE FUTURE FALCONS - GNK DINAMO

https://alabtalcup.com/en/edicion/2nd-edition/

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In the first edition of the tournament, the winning team was Valencia after a 2:1 victory over Atletico Madrid in the final.

In addition to European teams, the football teams Green future falcons and Saudi future falcons "White" also participate in the cup. Both teams are consisting of young talented players who participate in the scholarship program as the best talents from Saudi Arabia.

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Coach Igor Cvitanović: This is a beautiful story and we are glad to have the opportunity to participate

The young Dinamo players will start a new competition next week, the prestigious Al Abtal International Friendly Cup. This friendly tournament is promoted by the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Sports.

- This is certainly a beautiful story and I am glad that our young players will have the opportunity to face other quality teams. It’s a great opportunity to see where we are and what we are at this stage. The schedule is, admittedly, a bit hectic and tight, most of these footballers play the Croatian Second Division. The schedule is tough, but we will do our best. Every game against such great rivals certainly means a strong additional motive for them, it is clear that they will want to promote the club and themselves in the right way. We will do everything to make Dinamo look good and present itself properly in a friendly tournament - said the coach Igor Cvitanović.

The invitation to participate in such a tournament is just another confirmation of the great work, but also the reputation of Dinamo's youth academy.

- We all know that Dinamo's academy is very respectable all over the world, not only in Europe. For me personally, and certainly for the young players and everyone in the club, it is a great honor and privilege to participate and compete together with the best teams around the world. I would also like to thank my colleague Romeo Jozak who helped a lot in this project.

Players and coaching staff will travel to Spain on Tuesday: 

- We are traveling on Tuesday already, which means that we will do Covid-19 test and training on Monday. After that, on Tuesday morning we had our flight to Barcelona. The plan is to play about one game per month. We have five matches in the group stage, the best team will qualify for the finals in May 2022.

Cvitanović is especially happy that his former club, Real Sociedad, will be in Dinamo's group.

- I am especially glad that we will play against Real Sociedad, I am looking forward to meeting the people from the club. I probably know some of them from the past. I will find out whether there is someone in their U-19 team from my generation. We have a good and quality group, Real Sociedad, Olympique Marseille, Valencia ... I think we can play with everyone equally - concluded coach Cvitanović.