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Raleigh, North Carolina — April 17, 2018 — North Carolina FC Youth is pleased to announce that our international soccer tours with WorldStrides Excel were a resounding success with an impressive table of opponents and schedule of sightseeing excursions, stadium tours, and professional matches.
GIRLS SPAIN
The North Carolina Football Club Youth (NCFC) girls’ soccer team traveled abroad to Madrid and Barcelona, Spain to compete against top academy and club teams and experience Spanish culture.
While on their Spain Soccer Tour with WorldStrides Excel, the NCFC soccer team competed in four friendly matches against CD Tacon, Guadalajara, UE Tancat, and Women’s Soccer Barcelona. The team also attended two professional matches – a La Liga match between Getafe and Betis and the UEFA Champions League match between FC Barcelona and Roma.
In Madrid, the NCFC girls toured Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, the home of Real Madrid, the old town of Toledo, Palacio Real and enjoyed an introductory tour of the city which captured some of its most famous landmarks. During their time in Barcelona, the girls saw the works of Antoni Gaudí at Park Güell and La Sagrada Familia, walked down one of Barcelona’s busiest streets, Las Ramblas, and toured Camp Nou Stadium, home to FC Barcelona.
BOYS MANCHESTER
Traveling to Manchester, England, the NCFC boys had a number of exciting opportunities to experience a passionate culture of soccer. The team tested their skills against a full table of high-level club and academy teams in the Manchester Cup tournament. Following the tournament, the team experienced private coaching sessions with UEFA ‘A’ License coaches and friendly fixtures against Bury and Fletcher Moss.
The NCFC boys’ trip to Manchester featured a number of noteworthy excursions including trips to the National Football Museum, Conwy Castle, the cities of Chester and Liverpool, and guided tours of two professional stadiums. Visiting Old Trafford and Anfield Stadiums, the homes of Manchester United and Liverpool, showed the team where many of the magical moments of the English Premier League have occurred and helped them feel the electric passion of soccer in England. The tour of Manchester wouldn’t be complete without attendance at professional games. The NCFC boys did just that by attending an English Premier League match between Manchester United and Swansea.
DEVELOPMENT ACADEMY BOYS FRANCE AND ITALY
Three NCFC Development Academy boys teams (U12, U14, and U17) traveled on a France and Italy Soccer Tour to train, compete and learn about French and Italian soccer culture.
The tour pitted all three teams against top opposition including Racing Club Grasse, Genoa Cricket and Football Club, Virtus Entella, Novara, Cremonese and S.S. Monza. While on their France and Italy Soccer tour with WorldStrides Excel, each team experienced European soccer culture by being in attendance for the Genoa vs. Cagliari professional match and a tour of San Siro Stadium, the home of AC and Inter Milan.
Enjoying a tour of two countries featured opportunities to tour some of the most amazing cities in Europe including Eze, Monaco, Genova, Santa Margherita Ligure and Milan. The city tours included visits to popular landmarks including Porta Soprana, Duomo di Milano and a guided visit of Casa Milan, the new headquarters of AC Milan.
Each North Carolina Football Club Youth team not only competed and trained with European coaches and teams, they also had time to enjoy and experience the rich history in Spain, England, France and Italy giving each team a once-in-a-lifetime experience that will create an unbreakable bond with each participant that will stand the test of time.