Friendship Cup recap

Four of our youth teams had a chance to test themselves against their Zenit counterparts in the latest edition of the Friendship Cup in Saint Petersburg last weekend.

Red and white delegation flew out to Russia on the morning of 19 February, with teams comprised of players born in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007 onboard. As soon as we landed, we made our way to the Gazprom Academy, where matches would kick off shortly.

Our boys were greeted by Zenit youth coaches who organised a series of presentations and a real footballing workshop. It was a fantastic environment created by Crvena zvezda's and Zenit's sponsors Gazprom.

The tournament has been opened by the U-15s in which the red and whites triumphed 2-1 thanks to strikes from Andrej Marić and Strahinja Stojković. Our boys born in 2006 fought bravely but succumbed to a 2-0 reverse. In the third match, the 2005-born lads lost 4-1 with Aleksej Vukićević scoring the only goal for Slađan Nikolić's team. The first day ended with our U-18s losing 4-0 to their Zenit counterparts.

The second day of the 2022 Friendship Cup started with our youngest team losing 5-0. The 2006 side drew 1-1, with captain Veljko Milosavljević getting on the scoresheet. The same outcome came in the clash of 2005-born players - with Veljko Vukojević scoring for the red and whites. In the last game, the U-18s drew 1-1, with Pavle Ognjenović getting a goal for Nemanja Jokić's side.

The award ceremony saw trophies and individual prizes awarded to round off the Friendship Cup. Individual awards were handed separately for every age group, with four Zvezda boys acknowledged for their displays. Pavle Bekonja, Andrija Maksimović, Mateja Bubanj and Falu Fol won prizes as best players in their respective age groups.

Our Academy Director Dragan Mladenović thanked our Zenit friends for their hospitality in what was a highly beneficial weekend for the two clubs' youngsters.

"It's a pleasure to visit our friends of Zenit. We all learned a lot through competition. Our coaches soaked up knowledge shared by our hosts. It's all about improving, and I hope we'll do even better when we meet again. We will train hard and use the knowledge and experience we've gained here. We hope we'll get to return the hospitality and see you in Belgrade soon. You are always welcome!"

Zenit Academy Director Anatoli Davydov said that this tournament is an essential step in improving the cooperation between our clubs, stating that he enjoyed the football on show.

"We are all winners because our long-term relations with Crvena zvezda makes us all united. We all must learn from our exchange of ideas, experience and methodologies. Just talking can be hugely beneficial. It was a tournament with a high standard of football. The matches felt very mature in many ways despite the players' young age. All in all: dedication, technique, tactics, fighting spirit and teamwork. I enjoyed it thoroughly. I hope we will meet more often. We will organise more tournaments like this, and we'd be happy to return the visit. We'll continue to grow together."

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