2012 Frenz International Cup

The 2012 Frenz International Cup was the first international youth football tournament (Under-15) organized by Frenz United Football Academy (FUFA). It took place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia as the host city from 28 December 2012 to 6 January 2013. The matches were played in three stadiums around the host city, with final played at the MBPJ Stadium, Petaling Jaya. Eight teams were invited for participation in the inaugural tournament. Players from each team must have been born on January 1, 1998, or later to participate in this tournament.

Astro Arena was selected as the official broadcaster, airing 10 live and 5 delayed telecasts of the matches, while RadioTVSports.com was selected as the official online media partner which covered most of the activities in the tournament(including press conferences), and Best Western Premier Dua Sentral was selected as the Event Hotel. The tournament was supported and sanctioned by the Football Association of Malaysia, and Selangor FA.

In the first round of the tournament, the teams competed in round-robin groups of four teams for points, with the top two teams in each group proceeding. These four teams advanced to the semi final stage, to decide which teams would participate in the final.

Teams

Teams participating in the tournament were invited by the organizers. Teams invited in the inaugural EDition were:

Frenz United Malaysia

Frenz United Indonesia

Persepolis F.C. Academy

Slavia Praha

Chonburi F.C.

Incheon Selection

Venues

Three stadiums served as the venues for the 2012 Frenz International Cup.

Petaling Jaya

Shah Alam

Bangi

MBPJ Stadium

Shah Alam Stadium

INSPEN Stadium

Capacity: 25,000

Capacity: 80,000

Capacity: 5,000

Both opening and final match were played at the MBPJ Stadium, Petaling Jaya.

Statistics

Group Stage

Group A

Team

3

2

1

0

8

1

+7

7

Frenz United Malaysia

3

1

2

0

4

3

+1

5

Slavia Praha

3

1

1

1

3

6

-3

4

Incheon Selection

3

0

0

3

3

8

-5

0

28 December 2012

5 – 0

Slavia Praha

Frenz United Malaysia

3 – 2

Incheon Selection

30 December 2012

2 – 0

Incheon Selection

Frenz United Malaysia

0 – 0

Slavia Praha

1 January 2013

Slavia Praha

3 – 1

Incheon Selection

Frenz United Malaysia

1 – 1

Group B

Team

3

2

0

1

8

3

+5

6

Persepolis F.C. Academy

3

2

0

1

6

3

+3

6

Frenz United Indonesia

3

1

0

2

3

7

-4

3 '''

Chonburi F.C.

3

1

0

2

2

7

-5

3

29 December 2012

Frenz United Indonesia

0 – 2

Chonburi F.C.

1 – 0

Persepolis F.C. Academy

31 December 2012

Chonburi F.C.

1 – 2

Frenz United Indonesia

Persepolis F.C. Academy

3 – 1

2 January 2013

5 – 0

Chonburi F.C.

Frenz United Indonesia

1 – 3

Persepolis F.C. Academy

Knockout stage

Goalscorers

4 goals
  • Lubomir Tupta ()
3 goals
  • Kogileswaran Raj ()
  • Vahid Aftari ( Persepolis F.C. Academy)
2 goals
  • Najamuddin Samat ()
  • Haziq Hossein ( Frenz United Malaysia)
  • Daniel Krejdl ( Slavia Praha)
  • Choo Min Yeol ( Incheon Selection),
  • Reza Karimipiraghoom ( Persepolis F.C. Academy)
  • Mohd Akhmar Haiqal Azhar ( Frenz United Malaysia)
1 goal
  • Ahmad Firdaus Ismail ()
  • Muhd Shahrul Akmal Adnan ()
  • Ruzaini Rusli ( Frenz United Malaysia)
  • Muhammad Amirul Haziq Rasmizal ( Frenz United Malaysia)
  • Myung Seong Jun ( Incheon Selection)
  • Denis Nemcek ()
  • Sittichok Paso ( Chonburi F.C.)
  • Risman Tahir ( Frenz United Indonesia)
  • Kritthanaphong Paidaen ( Chonburi F.C.)
  • Abdul Ali Nahumarury ( Frenz United Indonesia)
  • Reza Shekarighezelghayeh ( Persepolis F.C. Academy)
  • Saeed Hossinpour ( Persepolis F.C. Academy)
  • David Novak ( Slavia Praha)
  • Muhammad Amirul Ashraf ()
  • Mohd Syafiq Helmi ( Frenz United Malaysia)
  • Imanes Novan Rianto ( Frenz United Indonesia)
  • Martin Macho ()
  • Filip Modorosi ()
  • Marek Totkovic ()
  • Adam Sokol ()
  • Alex Kral ( Slavia Praha)

Prize Money and Awards

The tournament boasts one of the most lucrative prize money ever offered in the ASEAN region for an under-age competition. The total prize money on offer for the tournament was distributed as follows:

  • US$50,000 – Champions
  • US$25,000 – Runners-up
  • US$15,000 – Third place
  • US$10,000 – Fourth place
  • US$3,000 - Astro Arena Most Valuable Player Award
  • FIFA Fair Play Trophy

Champions

Runners-up

Third place

Fourth place

Persepolis F.C. Academy

Frenz United Malaysia

FIFA Fair Play Trophy

Most Valuable Player Award

Slavia Praha

Lubomir Tupta

Prizes were given away by Tengku Hassanal Ibrahim Shah Tengku Abdullah.

Also present were FA of Malaysia (FAM) vice-president Datuk Hamidin Mohd Amin and Frenz United Football Academy (FUFA) president, Dato’ Noor Ihsan A Hamid and Astro Arena's Azman Fahmi Osman.

Remarks

Slovakia team manager Rastislav Sojak was full of praise of the smooth organization of the tournament and the massive media publicity it garnered.

“We are very certain the Frenz International Cup will grow bigger. In fact I am not exaggerating in saying it is already one of the best tournaments we have competed in in terms of organization and publicity.

We compete in the UEFA-organised European Championship qualifiers of various ages and Frenz International Cup is comparable if not better especially in terms of publicity.

What is more important is that our players are given the chance to compete with youngsters from other cultures who one day will go on to create a name for themselves,” said Sojak.

Dato' Noor Ihsan A Hamid(center) during the pre-final match conference

Future

Frenz United Football Academy president Dato’ Noor Ihsan A Hamid said FUFA would look forward to making the event an annual affair.

“This inaugural tournament has given us an idea of our capability in staging events of international stature. It has certainly set the tone for future collaboration with our partners such as the FA of Malaysia and other stakeholders,” said Noor Ihsan.