Four South African teenagers and coach to spend time in Barcelona

Four promising young South African footballers and a coach will be sent on the trip of a lifetime to Barcelona, Spain in October, 2018.

This is part of a partnership between the Future Champions, Gauteng provincial government and Spain's top flight league, LaLiga Santander.

The four players are Nkanyiso Maphosa (16) Sahail Moosa (16), Zara Wilkinson (16) as well as Khanyezi Maphosa (16). 

The quartet impressed at the 2018 Future Players Talent Search and they were selected out of 10,000 players. 

Africa Director for LaLiga, Antonio Barradas, explained that Maphosa's twin brother, Khanyezi received an extended invitation.

“One of our selections for the tour, Nkanyiso Maphosa, is a twin. Upon close review of the scores, it appeared that his brother also performed remarkably well, coming in at a very close fourth place," Barradas said.

"Under these unique circumstances, we knew it was the right thing to do to extend the invitation to his brother, Khanyezi, as well," he continued.

Furthermore, this year's Future Coach winner, Andile Zulu, who coaches Soweto’s White City Spurs, will accompany the quartet to Barcelona.

Zulu will learn from some of the best football instructors in the world and he is expected to bring even greater levels of mentorship to the game in South Africa.

“Football is central to the Spanish way of life, with LaLiga forming an important part of this culture. The winners will get the chance to train with LaLiga clubs and it’s our hope that this helps them in both their personal and career development,” Barradas added.

“Part of the reason that we as LaLiga continue to be part of Future Champions is because of our ongoing commitment to help develop football from a grassroots level. It’s been a pleasure to once again be involved in this initiative and we wish the winners all the best during their travels," he concluded.