Bengaluru FC's Next Gen Team Defeats AFC Wimbledon In A Friendly

Bengaluru FC's reserve team defeated AFC Wimbledon U18s 3-1 win in a friendly match in the run-up to the Next Generation Cup, 2022 in the United Kingdom. Reserve team coach Naushad Moosa, who was delighted to get an opportunity to face a foreign team, let alone beat them in their own backyard, thanked the Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL) and the Premier League for the exposure. "This is something great that Reliance and FSDL have done. This partnership will really help. I could hear the players speaking that there might be some scouts, and we can get a bigger opportunity. So, this is something that goes into a player's mind and they might want to give a better performance at least thinking that they might get an opportunity. So this is something which is really nice. I feel this partnership between FSDL and the Premier League should go a long way," Moosa said.

The 2022 Next Generation Cup features Bengaluru FC and Kerala Blasters FC along with five Premier League academy teams and one team from South Africa. "The Next Gen cup presents a chance for our players to go out and get the experience of playing against the youth teams of some of the best sides in the UK. I'm really glad to see our youngsters get this chance, and it also gives our coaches to see the boys who have been knocking on the first team doors in action. This is an opportunity that I didn't have as a young footballer in India, and I'm really happy that the Premier League and ISL have joined hands to make this happen," Sunil Chhetri, India captain, said.

Bengaluru won the inaugural Reliance Foundation Development League (RFDL) - which was the qualification platform for the international tournament, earlier this year.

"When we went for the RFDL, I