Valencia CF football match

SIA ACADEMY YOUTH UNDER-18S GIVE THEIR ALL AGAINST VALENCIA CF

The players of the SIA Academy’s football school in Spain have positive feelings about their two matches this season against Valencia CF, one of the best professional football clubs in the country.

Competing in the second most important category of youth football offers you experiences such as testing your level against the youth teams of Primera División clubs. The 2020/2021 Liga Nacional season is coming to an end and now is the time to draw conclusions, many of them very positive.

The best football academies in the world: which teams produce the most talent?

To be the fifth club in the main European leagues, the third in Spain, that has trained the most youth players during the last sporting year, is an enormous merit. And it is the fruit of the work of many people over a long period of time. The Director of SIA Academy has been involved in this work for many years.

The ranking is headed by Real Madrid, with 39 players, followed by FC Barcelona with 34. Third place goes to Olympique Lyon with 30. Fourth place goes to Manchester United with 28, with Valencia CF fifth with 24.

The CIES Football Observatory study, which details that 24 players trained at the Ciutat Esportiva del Valencia are currently playing for teams in the five best leagues in Europe (LaLiga, Premier League, Serie A, Bundesliga and League 1).

Experiences of SIA Academy players

One of them is undoubtedly the two matches that the SIA Academy team played against Valencia CF. The ‘che’ team has had an extraordinary campaign that has led them to conquer the first position. Their high level made them the team to beat from the beginning of the season.

SIA Academy’s Juvenil A was one of those teams that looked to give Valencia CF a run for their money. First at the Soccer Inter-Action High Performance Centre and second at Valencia CF’s Ciudad Deportiva. Both matches were marked by good play, with the ‘che’ side being the more successful in attack.

 SIA Academy and Valencia CF football matches results

Match at Soccer Inter-Action facilities

On 29 November, the Soccer Inter-Action High Performance Centre in Enguera (Valencia, Spain) hosted the first youth duel between SIA Academy and Valencia CF. The team from Soccer Inter-Action’s International Soccer Academy in Spain went into the match in high spirits, given the importance of beating the competition leaders.

However, Valencia CF proved to be a solid and difficult team to beat. This scenario led to a first half of attacking alternatives, although the goals had to wait longer than expected. In fact, it was the last play of the first half that allowed Valencia CF to take the lead. Mario Domínguez, one of the best players in the category, scored the first goal of the game.

The game continued in the same vein as the first half. The home side looked for an equaliser time and time again and Valencia CF were not shy of attacking Aarón’s goal. The SIA Academy side were desperate in the end, but to no avail and with the misfortune that Valencia CF sealed the game with their second goal. Ian Martinez in the 90th minute was responsible for the second and final goal.

Match at Ciudad Deportiva de Paterna facilities.

The second leg was held on 27 February at Valencia CF’s Ciudad Deportiva. The football facilities of this Spanish Primera División club, which is a two-time UEFA Champions League finalist, opened their doors to the SIA Academy expedition.

As was the case in the first match, held at the Soccer Inter-Action High Performance Centre, the first half was marked by attacking alternatives, although this time Valencia CF managed to open the scoring much earlier. In the 12th minute Álex Varó beat goalkeeper Aarón. This was the score at the end of the first half.

In the second half, Valencia CF went on the attack. Luck smiled on them in front of goal and the ‘che’ team scored four more goals. Pedro Santos scored SIA Academy’s goal in the 68th minute when the score was three-nil down.

SIA Academy and Valencia CF football school

These two football matches in Spain between the SIA Academy Soccer School and Valencia CF were not the only ones. Throughout these seasons, Soccer Inter-Action’s International Soccer Academy School in Spain has competed toe-to-toe with this professional Primera División club.

In fact, SIA Academy’s Infantil A and Cadete A already proved their potential and level two years ago in the Liga Regional Preferente. Both the Infantil and Cadete teams played at a very high level and Valencia CF won, albeit at the last minute and with great effort, especially in Cadete, where both teams were playing for the league championship.

In fact, SIA Academy Youth A players such as Pedro Santos, Jordi Pérez, Florin and Joan Medina were already present in these matches, something that says a lot about the evolution of these players.

SIA Academy player with a background in Valencia CF

Beyond Pedro, Medina and Florin, there was one SIA Academy player who made these National League matches against Valencia CF very special for him. Ethan Kim, who is currently in Soccer Inter-Action’s annual High Performance Programme, returned to the club where he started his career in Spain.

The American winger of Korean origin is a benchmark of the Valencia CF International Academies and now of the SIA Academy. A player with a lot of potential whose training has been taking giant leaps.

In fact, Ethan has been training in recent months with UD SIA Benigànim in the Spanish Third Division. Under the orders of Fernando Gómez Colomer – later Valencia CF legend as a player and captain – the SIA Academy player has raised his level by training with U23 players who have been one of the revelations of the 2020/2021 season.

In addition to Ethan’s performance, other players from the SIA Academy’s Annual High Performance Programme have also participated in the official league matches against Valencia CF: David Vallelian (Swiss), Tomás Marín (Spanish) and José Manuel Boukhetache (French).