The Dynamo Academy is set to depart Houston Saturday for the 35th Eurovoetbal U-17 tournament in the Netherlands, playing some of the best teams from around the world during a 10-day trip.
Eighteen of the best players in the Dynamo Youth Development System, presented by Statoil, will take part in three friendlies and then the 12-team tournament in Groningen. The roster for the Europe trip includes three players from the Academy's U-18 team born in 1993, while the remaining players were born in 1994 and are still eligible at the U-16 level for the 2010-11 USSF Development Academy playoffs. Three of the players have experience in reserve games with the Dynamo first team.
The Academy team has three friendly matches scheduled over four days, with one of the matches scheduled against players from Vitesse and Groningen of the Dutch Eredivisie (Dutch League), one of the best leagues for young talent in the world.
The tournament kicks of a few days later with teams being divided into two groups of six teams. The Dynamo Academy is set to face PSV Eindhoven, Feyenoord, and Groningen from the Eredivisie, Slavia Prague from the Czech Republic, and Brazilian Club Botafogo. The other bracket includes Twente, Heerenveen, and Den Haag from the Netherlands, along with Sporting Lisbon (Portugal), Valencia (Spain), and Galatasaray (Turkey).
The tournament is known as one of the world's best, with former participants including Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Ajax, and others.
Check back here and over at Dynamo Theory for updates throughout the tournament.