BUDDING young footballers from Buntingford are set to follow in the footsteps of Premiership heroes such as Alan Shearer and Xabi Alonso by taking part in the prestigious Gothia Cup. Buntingford Cougars under 14s will travel to Gothenburg in Sweden on Sat

BUDDING young footballers from Buntingford are set to follow in the footsteps of Premiership heroes such as Alan Shearer and Xabi Alonso by taking part in the prestigious Gothia Cup.

Buntingford Cougars under 14s will travel to Gothenburg in Sweden on Saturday for the world's largest annual youth tournament.

The Gothia Cup attracts more than 1,400 teams from more than 60 countries across the world, including Kenya, France, USA, Australia, India, Germany, Brazil, Morocco, Spain and Italy.

Last year the week long tournament hosted more than 31,000 players between 11-19

In previous years stars such as Shearer, Alonso, Andrea Pirlo, Ze Roberto, and Kevin Phillips have made their name at the tournament.

Cougars manager Steve Harler said: "I've always wanted to take a football team on a European tour. We've been planning for this for months!"

Simon Rice of the Cougars added: "The Cougars are going to learn a lot especially with the cultural interaction."

In their opening games, the Cougars are set to play teams from Sweden and Academia Emeritense from Venezuela.

Rice said: "I'm not sure if they even know where Venezuela is!

"However, it's a good opportunity for them to showcase their skills and the boys are really looking forward to it - it should be a fantastic experience.