The New York Red Bulls U-16s may have been bounced out of contention for the Salzburg-hosted Next Generation Trophy on day one, but their adventures in RalfBall Cup did not end there.
The team stayed on to play the 9th-12th place playoff games. RBNY beat West African Football Academy, 2-0, then lost to Werder Bremen (3-2) and Serbia's FC Cukaricki (2-1).
The tournament's progress revealed the RBNY U-16s had a tough group to start with: Benfica won the trophy, beating Manchester City, 2-1; fourth-placed FC Midtjylland was the team that knocked out defending champion RB Salzburg in the quarterfinals.
It wasn't a great show for the RB soccer family. RBNY was eliminated in the group stage; RBs Salzburg, Leipzig, and Brasil bowed out in the quarterfinals. But the Next Generation Trophy is a youth tournament played for experience more than results. The present crop of RBNY U-16s have tested themselves against their peers in some well-respected academies around the world, and that can only be to the benefit of their development.
Next Generation Trophy Final Standings
1. Benfica
2. Manchester City
3. Valencia CF
4. FC Midtjylland
5. RB Salzburg
6. RB Brasil
7. RB Leipzig
8. Sagan Tosu
9. SV Werder Bremen
10. FC Cukaricki
11. RBNY
12. West African Football Academy