All of them played in this grassroots football tournament, with teams from all over the world, which takes place on the Costa Brava in Girona
BARCELONA, 28 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The FC Barcelona players Ansu Fati and Eric Garcia and the Barça Femení player Laia Codina were, as godparents, at the presentation of the MICFootball 2023 grassroots football tournament, in which they all participated and which in this edition will be held from 4 to April 9th.
Eric Garcia, as captain, and Ansu Fati, as one of the team’s goalscorers, were champions with the FC Barcelona Infantil of MICFootball 2015. A tournament from which both have good memories and from which in this edition, along with Laia Codina, they are godparents
“Weeks before the tournament we talked about what we wanted to win, we had it marked on the calendar. You play against the best and winning it was something unique. And against Madrid, winning was the best, it was everything”, recalled Ansu Fati.
For his part, Eric Garcia added that the MIC was “something very special.” “You came from playing the league against the same teams and you went to the MIC against teams from all over the world, concentrated in the hotel. It was a very important date,” he said.
“I would tell them to enjoy the experience. Go, enjoy it to the fullest, they will play against the best and have that extra motivation,” the Martorell center-back advised the participants in this edition.
On the other hand, he commented on the sporting news of FC Barcelona. “Things look very good, we are very happy, the League is on the right track and next week we have the return of the Cup,” he recalled, about the Clásico against Real Madrid with a ticket to the cup final.
For her part, Laia Codina, who participated with Cassà and Barça in two MICs, also has “very special” memories of the tournament. “With Cassà it was the last year playing with boys, and it was nice to close the circle at MIC. And with Barça it was one of the first tournaments I played, we reached the semifinals. It’s always a special tournament,” she said.
Juanjo Rovira, director of MICFootball, was delighted with the figures for this edition. “We are very happy, proud and satisfied, but with a lot of responsibility because we want to do it well and make it the best MIC in history. We will have 41 soccer fields, more than 100 kilometers between the two most distant cities. All the towns on the coast of Girona are MIC”, he celebrated.
344 TEAMS IN 35 VENUES
MICFootball, organized by MICSports, will be held from April 4 to 9. The inauguration of the tournament (April 5) will be at the Vilatenim Stadium and the 9 finals will be divided between Figueres and Palamós, over the weekend, although most of the municipalities on the Costa Brava will host matches.
344 teams from 33 countries on five continents will participate and more than 7,000 participants, counting players and members of the coaching staff. Beyond teams from European countries, there will be clubs from the United States, Brazil, Canada, Uzbekistan, Mali, Puerto Rico, Panama, Mexico, Japan, Hong Kong, Colombia, Israel, Peru, United Arab Emirates, China, Saudi Arabia, Australia , Costa Rica and Kazakhstan.
The players between the ages of 12 and 19 will be divided into 9 categories: junior football 11 and football 7 (U12-A and U12-B), children (U13 and U14), cadets (U15 and U16) and youth (U18 , U19 and F19). In total, 842 matches will be played.
Among the confirmed teams, there are 10 of the 20 clubs currently competing in LaLiga (FC Barcelona, Real Madrid CF, RCD Espanyol, Atlético de Madrid, Valencia CF, Villarreal CF, Real Betis, Sevilla FC, Real Sociedad de Fútbol and Girona FC ) and other prominent European teams such as Manchester United, Liverpool, Manchester City, AC Milan and Paris Saint-Germain, among others.