F.A. Euro - New York Magic News Release -- www.faeuro.com
Thursday, July 25, 2013
BROOKLYN, N.Y. -- F.A. Euro will bring its PDL team to Italy in August for a one-week postseason tour. The tour falls at the end of the PDL season, but it will double as pre-preseason tour for the F.A. Euro players heading back to college for their NCAA seasons. Players will train twice a day and take part in scrimmages alongside professional first team clubs like Gubbio, Lecce, Ostuni, Bari, and Foggia. The opening match of the tour, which begins August 3rd, sees the team travel to Gubbio on August 4th to face Gubbio’s first team. Following their match against Gubbio, the PDL squad travels south to Ostuni, Puglia to play their other exhibition matches.
The newly announced PDL franchise got off to a positive start in just their first year in the USL, finishing the season solidly in the middle of the table, and they plan to use this postseason tour to begin strengthening the side for next year's season.
The Italy tour is a great chance for the PDL guys to come together as a team and grow as players, but it also stands to be a fantastic opportunity for players to be scouted by professional Italian clubs.
In April, F.A. Euro sent two of its youth players, U-14 Nick Garzon and U-13 Steven Fernandez, to AC Milan and now the club plans to do something similar for its first team.
In a recent comment, Head Coach Joe Balsamo revealed his plans about the future of the squad and how the prospect of playing professionally plays a fundamental role in the club’s philosophy.
"At F.A. Euro one extremely important piece of our vision is to be able to offer our players the opportunity to live out their dreams of playing at the highest level, whether it be domestically or internationally. Our model is to prepare our players for opportunities like these, and give them all the tools they need to seize them. It will be a great experience for them as well as a great way to begin preparation for next season, as our goals and ambitions for next year are even higher then they were at the outset of this season."
A highly decorated coaching staff will accompany the team to offer invaluable guidance and advice. Members of the staff include, Europa Cup winner Angelo Orlando, former Italy U-20 coach and Serie A scout Paolo Berrettini, AC Milan youth coach Ruben Buriani, AS Bari youth coach Pietro Maiellaro, and FC Juventus Primavera coach Luciano Bruni.
The club’s Director of Coaching Angelo Orlando had this to say about the upcoming trip. “We have players from all around the world coming to the event. It’s a satisfying feeling when you have players from India and Ireland contacting you who are interested in the program as it is a testament to the fact that we are heading in the right direction. The event is a great way for the players to grow and experience the true professionalism of soccer, and we, as a coaching staff, will be on hand to give them feedback that will help them further their careers and abilities.”
Below is a game schedule of the matches:
August 5 – F.A. Euro vs. A.S. Gubbio
August 7 – F.A. Euro vs. U.S. Lecce
August 9 – F.A. Euro vs. A.S. Bari
August 11 – F.A. Euro vs. A.C.D. Foggia
F.A. Euro’s Ostuni Tour will run from August 3rd to August 11th. Any players interested in joining the PDL for the tour (17 years and older) can contact Marco Balsamo at marco.balsamo@faeuro.com.