Like St. Pauli, Chinese club Guangzhou FC will also be making their debut appearance at the Blue Stars/FIFA Youth Cup. FC Zurich, Grasshoppers, and hosts Blue Stars complete the line-up, and will once again be hoping to show that young Swiss players have nothing to fear when it comes to international competition.
One of Zurich’s oldest clubs, Blue Stars have been staging Switzerland’s most prestigious youth tournament since 1939, which quickly became one of those rare events that give youngsters an opportunity to experience a variety of playing cultures, and it has certainly lost none of its international allure.
Players who have gone on to become household names, such as Bobby Charlton, Pep Guardiola, David Beckham, Nani, Kaká and Gerard Piqué, along with Swiss stars Köbi Kuhn and Xherdan Shaqiri, have all left their mark on the competition.