Coach Sebastian Desvignes explains, "I would like to offer my thanks to Gyproc for the strong support, without which it would not have been possible for these Thai kids to live that 'once in a lifetime' experience, travelling to France to play football with the best teams in the world; Barcelona, Liverpool, Manchester City … For most of these kids, it was their first time traveling abroad, and I am sure it was very exciting to discover new places, new people, new food… and of course have fun and play top-class football."
Richard Juggery, Managing Director, Thai Gypsum Products Public Company Limited, said, "I would like to express my sincere congratulations to the youth players of FC Bangkok. The team achieved tremendous results against the best of Europe, and returned to Thailand as magnificent representatives of Thailand and of Thai youth football. Gyproc is very proud to sponsor the team, and work to develop their 7-17 year old players. The future of football in Thailand looks very bright, with the support of committed and passionate partners like Gyproc."
FC Bangkok's adventure started last December when they were invited to the Under-11 tournament in France. The coach started by organizing try-outs to select talented Thai footballers who would train hard and represent their country. After 3 months of intensive training, the team left Thailand for the city of Lyon. The first three days were spent in the region of Lyon, getting used to the weather, training and playing friendly matches versus Saint Etienne, Montpellier and Lyon (French Ligue 1 Academy teams) to prepare for the tournament.
After rigorous training, the team then travelled across France to Nantes to play in the Mini Mondial tournament. They started strong and defeated the first two teams 3-1 and 1-0 respectively. On day two, they continued to go from strength to strength, winning the next two games and drawing the last. In the last game against SC Bastia (a pro French team), FC Bangkok kept their cool and maintained a 0-0 draw that meant they finished top of their group with 18 points and qualified for the final round.
The tension and excitement on the last day was immense as the team played in front of large crowds. In the first game they battled hard – FC Bangkok managed to get a 1-0 win. The next game was against AEPR Reze, the strongest team in the group. FC Bangkok put up a brave fight but the opposition was strong and scored two great goals to defeat FC Bangkok 2-1 and put them out of the tournament. In the final results FC Bangkok placed 22nd out of 120 teams, with Barcelona in 21st place, Manchester City only a few places ahead, with St. Etienne's the overall champions.
For more information, please call 02-640-8600 or visit website http://www.gyproc.co.th/