History
Wednesday 13 July 2005
e-mail
Print
Digg
Save
Michael Essien is among the top European stars to have played in the Meridian Cup (©Getty Images 2004)
The UEFA-CAF Meridian Cup was launched in Lisbon, Portugal on 30 January 1997 as part of the Meridian Project, a co-operation agreement between UEFA and its sister confederation in Africa, CAF to promote the exchange of cultures and to offer young footballers a unique learning experience within the framework of a football festival.
Previous venues
Between 1997 and 2005 four leading national youth sides from each continent took part in the biennial tournament, with Nigeria winning the first UEFA-CAF Meridian Cup, defeating Spain 3-2 in the final in Alverca, Portugal on 9 February 1997. Two of the other European representatives fought out the third place play-off, Portugal coming from a goal down to defeat Greece 2-1 after extra time with Simão grabbing the winner.
Cape Town final
In 1999, honours went to Europe as Spain triumphed 2-1 in the final against Ghana at Cape Town's Athlone stadium on 7 February. Although Egypt and Portugal battled out a scoreless third place play-off, it was Portuguese prowess in the penalty shoot-out that decided the winners. The other African representatives were host nation South Africa along with Nigeria, while for Europe, the Republic of Ireland and Italy were also involved.
Format change
The format was changed for the 2001 UEFA-CAF Meridian Cup, which was staged in the Puglia region of southern Italy, as the competing teams played against opponents from the other continent with the points gained added to the continent’s total in order to find the winning confederation. Europe dominated proceedings, winning ten and drawing five of the 16 matches held. However, a prize for the best team remained, and Africa's only victory in the competition played a key part in deciding the winning individual team, Nigeria's 1-0 defeat of Italy allowing Spain to retain the trophy by a single point.
Europe again
Europe retained the 2003 UEFA-CAF Meridian Cup in fine style after a terrific performance from the continent's four sides in Egypt. Spain led the way with four wins out of four while Switzerland, England and France all remained unbeaten in each of their matches against the four nations representing Africa – Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Egypt and Mali. Points were awarded for each win (three) or draw (one) and in the final standings Europe triumphed by 36-8.
European treble
Europe continued their domination at the fifth edition of the competition in Turkey. The four European participants in the 2005 event - France, Spain, Portugal and the hosts - won 14 of their 16 matches over the eight days. Only Egypt and Sierra Leone recorded points for the African continent - whose other representatives in the eight-team competition were Cameroon and Nigeria - both earning goalless draws against Portugal in the round-robin tournament.
Format change
The format of the competition was changed again after the 2005 event. Rather than involving a final tournament, the UEFA-CAF Meridian Cup will in future comprise a two-legged match between two continental all-star Under-18 teams, and an educational part consisting of joint training sessions and meetings of coaches from Europe and Africa.
©uefa.com 1998-2008. All rights reserved.
