Celtic’s double winning youth side will take part in next week’s prestigious Blue Stars/FIFA Youth Cup in Zurich.
The event has been running since 1938 and has featured players such as David Beckham and Kaka in recent times and has been backed by Fifa since 1991.
Celtic will face FC Zurich, Borussia Dortmund, Club America of Mexico and hosts Blue Star in Group B with the other group consisting of Boca Juniors, Kaiser Chiefs (South Africa), Real Mallorca alongside FC Basel and Grasshoppers.
Looking forward to the competition Celtic coach Stevie Frail said: “This is a top competition and one that we are all looking forward to.
“We’ve had a fantastic winning run at the end of the season and we’re looking to extend that into this competition.
“This club plays to win in every competition and that’s what we’re looking for in Switzerland.
“We’ve given the players a tough week of training and there has been no easing up since we won the Youth Cup at Hampden.
“Players at other clubs have broken up for the close season but we’re still working the boys hard, there’s been no easing up.
“These events give the players great experience. It gets them together for a few days and tests them against teams that play in different styles.
“We went to Villarreal Tournament at the start of the season and that stood everyone in good stead for the season ahead.
“Over the weekend we’ll decide on the squad to fly over, it’ll mainly be from the u-19 side but we’ll also take a few players from the u-17 squad who will be stepping up next season.”
The competition will be held on May 12 and 13 at the Buchlern sports facility in the Zurich district of Altstetten.
For more details on this competition CLICK HERE to visit their website, amongst the previous winners are Manchester United 2004, 2005 and Barcelona 1993, 1994, 1995. In 1986 Celtic won the tournament I’d guess that Derek Whyte, Lex Baillie, Dougie McGuire would have been involved.
