Norwich City's Under-12 side travelled to Berlin in Germany to take part in the Young Talents Cup, hosted by local club Hertha 03 Zehlendorf. The age limit in Germany meant that some of the younger Under-13's were allowed to join the Canaries squad in the 12-team tournament. Competition was spread over two days - Friday 21st and Saturday 22nd. Norwich travelled over on the Wednesday allowing coach Ian Thornton time to take the boys through a couple of training sessions on the Astroturf pitches that would be used for some games, as well as the chance to visit the tourist sights of the German capital. There was also an Under-14 competition where Reading were the English representatives and both English sides were keen to cheer on their countrymen when breaks in the tournament schedule allowed.

Ian Thornton makes his point during a break in training

The Norwich squad perfected the Mexican Wave while cheering on Reading in the older age-group

Norwich's Group opposition consisted of two local Berlin sides Tasmania and hosts Hertha Zehlendorf together with Bundesliga outfit Borussia Moenchengladbach. The City squad did well to win their group, not conceding a goal in two wins, followed by a goalless draw against a useful looking Moenchengladbach side. This set up a quarter-final against BK Copenhagen which City went on to win despite falling behind to an early goal. Saturday morning saw a crunch semi-final, again against Moenchengladbach. The City lads responded well to the tactics set by coach Ian and Academy Manager Ricky Martin and were unlucky to lose 1-0 as the game looked to be heading for a penalty shoot-out. The third-place play-off against Hertha BSC Berlin, again a Bundesliga club, was always going to be difficult after the semi-final disappointment but to their credit the Norwich youngsters played well and went ahead before eventually losing 3-1.

Fourth place was nevertheless a great achievement for this young side and all the team seemed to enjoy the experience of different opposition, different football and travel to a new country from which they can only have benefited. They were certainly a credit to their club and good ambassadors for English football abroad. Opponents Result Scorers Tasmania Gropiusstadt 2-0 Shane Brown, Elliot Hunter Hertha Zehlendorf 3-0 Olly Thomson, Jack Jones, Simon Bird Moenchengladbach 0-0   BK Copenhagen (QuarterFinal) 4-1 Sam Habergham, Simon Beeson, Louis Cutajar, Simon Bird Moenchengladbach (SemiFinal) 0-1   Hertha BSC Berlin (3rd Place) 1-3 Tom Adeyemi

Concentration all round as the squad listen to Ian Thornton's team talk before the semi-final against Moenchengladbach

City Squad: Declan Rudd, Jack Buckmaster, Sam Goff, Sam Habergham, George Wilson, Olly Thomson, Tom Adeyemi, Jack Jones, Louis Cutajar, Elliot Hunter, Chez Rust, Simon Bird, Shane Brown, Sam Arthurton, Tom Gowman, Simon Beeson, Daniel Compton Staff: Ricky Martin (Academy Manager), Ian Thornton (Coach), Nathan Goss (Physio)

Further Action From The Tournament
The City wall rises as one in defence of a Tasmania Berlin free-kick	A Norwich player goes to ground (or rather Astroturf) against Tasmania
Action v Hertha Zehlendorf	Physio Nathan Goss attends to an injured player
Handshakes after the victory against Zehlendorf	Some hard defending was required against Moenchengladbach in the group decider
Norwich switched to their red kit for the quarter-final against Copenhagen	We are in the Semi's!
Ian Thornton announces the team for the semi-final	Semi-final Action
More Semi-final Action	Smiles all round after a hard but successful competition
Report and Pictures courtesy of Paul Standley.