Uruguay will be represented in Gothia Cup: "One of the best tournaments worldwide"

This summer, Uruguay will be among the represented nations in Gothia Cup for the first time in many years.

Club Seminario will compete in the B17 category in Gothia Cup 2024.
– It will be an unforgettable experience and we will find an unprecedented organisation, says Mathias Rojas in Club Seminario.

The club was formed in 2010 and they're active in a lot of sports.
– It's football, rugby, hockey, handball and basketball. Although our beginning date back to the late 90's, the club as it is now is 14 years old. Today we play football at university level, in the Liga Universitaria de Deportes (University Sports League). We have ten official teams in the categories U14, U16, U18, U20, reserves, seniors and pre-seniors. The club currently is a club in full growth. We’re one of the largest amateur football clubs in the country, says Mathias Rojas.

How come you choose to participate in Gothia Cup? What have you heard about the tournament?
– Through the company Proactive, we became aware of the tournament. We participated in a local championship organised by Proactive and from there, Club Seminario and Proactive worked together to make it possible. As we have been informed by Proactive, it is one of the best tournaments worldwide. It will be an unforgettable experience and we will find an unprecedented organisation. We understand that from the organization, they will offer us an experience that includes not only sports, but also cultural interaction, knowledge of the countries and others, which generate an ideal mix.

You will participate for the first time. How does it feel?
– Yes, it will be the first time. Therefore, there are all expectations and we hope that it will be an experience to repeat and that the visit to the tournament will become more recurrent.

How do you think it will be for the players to get the chance to play Gothia Cup now?
– The main objective is to interact with all the delegations that will participate. To get to know the destinations and for it to be an experience that goes beyond the sports aspect. On the sports side: to make a serious, competitive and organized presentation. But it's far from being the main importance.

What do you think you can learn from this experience as a team?
– We understand that it will be key to have the experience of playing matches with a large audience, an unprecedented organisation, getting to know different cultures and countries, living a professional experience even though they're amateur players, getting to know places. We also understand that these extensive trips, to other countries and teams, generate a very strong union and consolidate groups, says Mathias Rojas.

The B17 team will make the most of the week in Sweden. And of course, they want to make good progress on the football pitch.
– The objective is to compete in a fair way, with a solid team, but in particular, to use the experience as a starting point, so that we can prepare ourselves better every year, he says.