A parade of young international soccer talent is expected at 10 and 11 June 2023 at the grounds of East Flanders' first-provincial team KVE Drongen, where the sixth version of the KDB Cup will be held. A special event for players U15, an age category Kevin De Bruyne looks back on with pleasure, the first edition of which was held in 2016. Back then, Portugal's Benfica SL crowned themselves winners, followed in the following years by Spain's Barcelona, RSC Anderlecht, England's Chelsea and again Barça, respectively. In a true Clásico, the Catalans showed themselves slightly stronger than their Real Madrid peers at the end of May 2022.
Another clash at the Keiskant complex will soon be a possibility again, as both Barcelona (fifth participation) as Real Madrid confirmed their return to this unique football and family event. Chairman Paul Naudts and competition director Jeroen Verhille even unveiled an incredible first. Because for the first time, the KDB Cup is playing the intercontinental card, as the list of participating teams also includes the names of global top teams such as Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa) and Palmeiras SE (Brazil). They are U15 champions in their country, but will face the European clappers for the first time. Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Ajax and PSG have plenty of experience, while rookie RB Leipzig, the Danish Odense Boldklub (seventh in 2019), KAA Gent and Club Brugge promise to bring out the best in themselves.
Following in the footsteps of today's pros Jamal Musiala, Ansu Fati, Gavi, Jeremy Doku, Romeo Lavia, Eric García, Anthony Gordon, Rico Lewis, Noni Madueke, Myron Buadu, Ilaix Moriba, Konrad de la Fuente, Isaac Lihadji, Tomas Tavares, Maarten Vandevoordt, Zeno Debast, Charles De Ketelaere, Matisse Samoise, Thomas Van Den Keybus, Marco Kana, Killian Sardella, Anouar Ait El Hadj, Mario Stroeykens and Luca Oyen, all of whom used the KDB Cup as a springboard, it remains the dream of a lot of little players entering Drongen.
A fun and promising poster, combined with the necessary 'fun' elements, this will be an ideal outing for all those who love top sport and can meet some future football idols. KDB itself cannot be there this time, due to appointment with history on Saturday night for the Champions League final from Manchester City against Inter in Istanbul. In collaboration with Blue Moon Belgium, it was decided to enter the titanic battle with Red Devil Romelu Lukaku, kick-off at 21:00, directly on the big screen broadcast. As an aperitif before the main course, there will be at 18.30u another duel between the (interprovincial) U15-selection of KVE Drongen Against the (elite level) U14 from KAA Gent.
However, the KDB Cup is more than just top football, with the refs and assistant referees from 1A and 1B managing all the games. At Saturday capable of 12 hours even a derby of the Low Countries programmed, when the national teams Ampu football of Belgium and the Netherlands party each other, just like the G-football teams from Kortrijk and Sint-Amandsberg.
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