The first edition of Virgil’s Legacy Trophy took place over the weekend at Willem II’s youth stadium in Tilburg, marking the return of an international under-13 competition designed by Liverpool and Netherlands defender Virgil van Dijk in partnership with his boyhood club.
Sixteen Elite academy teams from across Europe competed in the tournament, held from September 13 to 14.
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Participating clubs included Liverpool, Ajax, Arsenal, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain, Inter Milan, Celtic, PSV, Manchester City, FC Groningen and, of course, hosts Willem II.
All fixtures were played 11-a-side on top-quality pitches, with group-stage matches at Sportpark Prinsenhoeve and the knockout rounds culminating in a showpiece final at the Koning Willem II Stadium.
Liverpool’s U13 side topped their group with convincing wins over the hosts, Bayer Leverkusen and Paris Saint-Germain before advancing through the quarter-finals and semi-finals.
In the final, they faced Feyenoord, defeating the Dutch giants 2-1 to lift the inaugural Legacy Trophy.
Striker Ade Adediran earned the tournament’s Diogo Jota Award as Most Valuable Player after scoring eight goals in five matches, while defender Joshua-Kyle Mfunyi was named Best Defender.
