Our under-17s won the Flamengo adidas Cup with a 3-1 win over Flamengo in Brazil on Monday.
The largest international youth tournament in Brazil, the Cup took place between December 9 and 17 at Flamengo, Ninho do Urubu and featured 10 teams.
Needing to finish in the top two of our group to qualify, we beat Colo Colo from Chile 3-1 with Louis Zecevic-John twice on the scoresheet as well as man of the match Brando Bailey-Joseph.
We then played Independiente Del Valle from Ecuador, and beat them 3-2 after an amazing comeback from being 2-0 down. The goals came from Angelinou, a penalty from Alek Marciniak and an injury-time winner from Bailey-Joseph.
Next we played Midtjylland in a 0-0 draw that was a tough fixture, before we played Sao Paolo, losing 3-1 with a goal from Marley Frohock, but we qualified into the semi-finals after finishing in the top two.
We then play Dinamo Zagreb in the semi-final with two goals from Zecevic-John, which were enough to seal the win and also earn him man of the match from the bench after a great pass from Kyran Thompson.
In the final against Flamengo, we went a goal down against the run of play as we put in an amazing performance. Our goals came from Marley, Bailey-Joseph and Maalik Hashi, which were enough to win a very good final.
Bailey-Joseph was man of the match and both Brando and Teshaun Murisa were named in the Team of the Tournament.
Final starting XI: Talbot, Gyasi, Salmon, Stachow, Tahou, Murisa, Sampang, Hashi, O'Neill, Frohock, Bailey Joseph
U16s Head Coach Michael Donaldson said: "The boys played some amazing football, they worked so hard for one another and showcased just what a great academy we are. These experiences are priceless in their journeys as young players, it helps them understand the importance of travel, being an ambassador for Arsenal on the world stage.
"To win this type of prestigious tournament is fantastic and it's credit to all the work that the players and staff put in every day to ensure our quest to be the most challenging and caring academy in the world helps us continue to produce the best players we possibly can."
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