Players’ list FIFPro Tournament 2011
Thursday 14 July
He is 22 years old, played Champions League with FC Basel, Serie A with Palermo and last season 34 matches with Novara that got promoted to the Serie A. This weekend Michel Morganella will participate in the FIFPro Tournament in Rijnsburg.
Morganello (picture, right) is one of the prominent names in the team of Switzerland that will participate in the FIFPro Tournament 2011 in Rijnsburg, Holland, 16 and 17 July.
Switzerland will play the second match of the Tournament against last years’ runner-up Spain, which has its most prominent name in “Koeman”. Of course this is not the former Barcelona star, but 23-year old forward Alberto Fernández Garcia, better known as “Koeman”.
Host nation Holland will open the FIFPro Tournament on Saturday at 11.00 h against Italy. The Dutch have the youngest team of the Tournament, captained by the experienced Hans Denissen, who gained first league experience with Willem II. A youngster to look at is Romario Sabayo (22) who played as the great Romario for PSV Eindhoven, but had the bad luck of being injured last season.
Also Italia has a younger team than previous years, also due to the new maximum age of 31 for the FIFPro Tournament. Only two jokers per team are allowed to be older and one of them is Arturo Di Napoli (‘Re Artur’) who played in Serie A for Napoli, Inter, Vicenza, Empoli, Piacenza, Venezia and Messina. Also Massimiliano Fusani (30), in Serie A with Perugia and Chievo and Luigi Lavecchia (29), in highest league with Le Mans (France), Messina, Bologna and Targu Mures (Romania) have remarkable CV’s.
In the 3rd match of the tournament France, winner of three of the previous six FIFPro Tournaments, will play their first match. A youngster to watch in the French team is Nicolas Desenclos (22), who played as 18-year old friendlies with Inter against Man United, Aston Villa and Juventus, but went after preseason on loan to Triestina. Last season he played in the play offs for AS Eupen, a Belgian club from the premier league.
There is plenty premier league experience in the French team with Vincent Briant (25), Jean-Jacques Pierre (30), Moncef Zerka (29), Loic Guillon (29), Franck Signorino (29) and Ernest Akouassaga (25) all having a past at Nantes, the latest being a Gabon national team player. Remarkable is the record of Franck Signorino who only played one season in his career not in the premier league. No doubt the French will be a favorite for the title again this year.
But first they will have to beat the young promising team of Denmark. A youngster to watch is 21-year old striker Mark Leth Pedersen who gained premier league experience with Brondby IF. Striker Philip Lund (21) played with Vejle BK in the premier league, and Lasse Qvist (24) will return to Holland: he played in the youth teams of PSV Eindhoven.
The seventh team of the FIFPro Tournament 2011 is Portugal, that had this year Miguel Garcia as ambassador. Garcia played at the FIFPro Tournament 2009, gained a contract with Olhanense and later Braga and played this year the final of the Europa League against FC Porto. He will be an example for Rui Baiano (30) who played together with Miguel Garcia for Olhanense in the 2009-2010 season.
Another experienced player in the Portuguese team is Ricardo Duarte (29) who gained premier league experience with Paços de Fereiras, his last club being DOXA Katokopias at Cyprus.
International clubs and scouts will find their way to Rijnsburg and will have a close look at more than 130 players searching for a new contract this weekend. Click here for the complete list of players and their CV’s.