Of course the impeccably run tournament needed a helping hand from elements outside the organisers control in order to create the perfect occasion: namely great weather. Luckily the sun shone down on Vienna on Saturday allowing the crowds to come out and enjoy an afternoon packed full of quality entertainment. Sixteen U9 teams were divided up into four groups with the victors moving on into the next group phase. There was cracking football on display right from the off as hosts Rapid ran out 2:0 victors over FC Barcelona. During the day 3000 spectators made their way down to the Hanappi to cheer on the youngsters from across the continent. Promising for the futureIn attendance was Rapid President Rudolf Edlinger. The Green & White supremo had already officially welcomed all the teams in traditional Rapid style and went on to add: "it makes me so proud that we are able to welcome such prestigious clubs to this exceptionally well run tournament. It it's a real honor." Not only were Catalan giants FC Barcelona in attendance but also European heavyweights such as AC Milan, Tottenham Hotspur, FC Basel, Dinamo Zagreb, Bayern Munich, Red Bull Salzburg, Sturm Graz, Austria Vienna to mention but a few. Marcel Koller, coach of Austria's national football team was also in attendance. After speaking about the professional organisation of the day he shared his hopes that "in roughly ten years we'll see some of these guys playing on a professional football field." Closing StagesSurprisingly after the first few rounds, some huge clubs had already bowed out of the competition – Rapid were however still mixing it with the best of them. The Hütteldorfers came up against Italians Milan and, after a gripping encounter, bowed out of the tournament after going down to a very respectable 1:2 defeat. Defending their title from the previous year, German outfit Hertha Berlin made their way to the semi finals with an impressive 4:0 victory over Slavia Prague.Opposite the OMV Rapid Youth Tournament over on the training pictures the Street Soccer Tournament, featuring 32 teams, was taking place. An interesting fact: the referees for the tournament were all players from the Rapid reserve side, showing the whole clubs commitment to making the weekend a success!As the dust settled defending champions Hertha BSC and Dinamo Zagreb squared off against each other in the final. The Croatians took the crown with a 2:0 victory to deny Berlin the tournament title for a second year in a row. Our youngsters finished in seventh place. SK Rapid and OMV would like to extend a warm thank you to all the teams who competed in the tournament, and all the staff and guys behind the scenes who put so much effort into making the day such a success. We're looking forward to next year already!Final placings for the 5th OMV Rapid International Youth Tournament:(in memory of Herbert Burgsteiner):1. Dinamo Zagreb2. Hertha BSC Berlin3. AC Milan4. FK Austria5. SK Sturm Graz6. KRC Genk7. SK Rapid Vienna8. SK Slavia Prague9. Tottenham Hotspur10. FC Barcelona Escola11. FC Vienna 189412. Bayern Munich13. RB Salzburg14. LASK Linz15. FC Basel16. Trenkwalder Admira(gw)
23.05.2012