Celtic kick-off the Durban u-19 International Tournament against Arsenal this afternoon (2pm CPT).
Development coach Stevie Frail is in charge of an 18 strong squad for the prestigeous tournament that also includes PSV Eindhoven, AC Milan, Galatasaray and Stuttgart as well as the South African national side and a KZN Academy XI.
Celtic will play their matches at the King Zwelithini Stadium with the final on August 4 to be played at the 64,000 capacity Moses Mabhida Stadium which was used during the 2010 World Cup Finals.
In the coming season Celtic will again take part in the Premier League International Cup as well as hoping to play in the u-19 Champions League giving the players competitive experience of playing continental opponents.
Looking forward to today’s opening match Frail said: “Playing Arsenal will be a new experience for us and is a game that everyone is looking forward to.
“They have a great reputation for developing players and have an extensive network bringing players in from far and near. We played against PSV Eindhoven a few seasons ago in the Next Gen Series and know how they like to play the game.
“We get a lot of invites to take part in competitions and the Durban International is one that we are delighted to accept.
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“Playing in Africa is a new experience for everyone and the format suits us at this time of the season. We get a 90 minute game, a day off then another 90 minute match. In some other tournaments you can be playing a couple of 50 or 60 minute matches every day.
“It’s a demanding schedule but also gives us time to train between matches, as coaches we’ll get a look at the other matches and see what is going on.
“We’ve got a strong squad over, they are used to playing European sides and almost all of them finished last season winning trophies at Hampden.
“Playing Arsenal is a great way to start the tournament and we’re looking to get off to a winning start to set us up for the rest of the tournament”.
CELTIC SQUAD Colin McCabe, Ross Doohan, Dan Higgins, Jamie McCart, Josh Kerr, Aiden McIlduff Blair Kidd, Jack Breslin, Mark Hill, Joe Thomson, Innes Murray Regan Hendry, Aidan Nesbitt, Calvin Miller; Ciaran Lafferty, Blair Currie
