The competition, commencing tomorrow, will take place over four days this week and the young Gers will compete alongside Mohammed VI Football Academy and Fath Union Sport fromMorocco, PSV Eindhoven and Feyenoord from the Netherlands, Real Madrid and Real Sociedad fromSpain, Olympique Marseille, Olympique Lyonnais and Racing Club Strasbourg from France, Académie Génération Foot fromSenegal, and RSC Anderlecht fromBelgium.
Speaking to RangersTV ahead of the start of the tournament, lead coach Gilmour outlined the benefits of the trip: “We’re looking forward to it. It will be another experience in Morocco with some good clubs who are going to be there. It will be a nice test to have the players go and test themselves against some of the best teams that they’ll come up against at this age group in Europe.
“It’s become the norm for the players to go and test themselves against the best clubs in Europe. Going into the African continent as well and coming up against a team from Morocco, who we actually faced in Qatar at the Alkass International Cup with the 2004 group a few years ago.
"There are different styles to go and compete against which is part of the journey in these young players’ careers, to learn and try to adapt to different things but also try to put their stamp, individually and as a team, and test themselves against individuals in their position.”
The tournament is hosted at the state-of-the-art Mohammed VI Football Academy, which was recently described as “impressive” by Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti after the facility was used by the current Champions League holders during their Club World Cup triumph earlier this month.
The teams have been split into four groups of three teams each, with the top two teams advancing to the quarter-finals. The Light Blues have been drawn alongside hosts Mohammed VI Football Academy and Olympique Marseille.
Gilmour believes the experience of the Under-19s group in the UEFA Youth League earlier this season – where they competed against Liverpool, Ajax and Napoli – will stand the side in good stead.
He said: “The variety is very good for them. The variety of playing in league business back home, going between the U18s and B Team, and getting some recognition to go and play against men’s senior teams. These tournaments are key to that.
"We’ve had an experience this year, with some of the boys who are going on this trip, of being involved in the UEFA Youth League against Europe’s best so we’re branching out a little bit and coming up against different teams. The variety is key to go and test yourself at that level."
“When you go into any tournament as a player, you want to go and win the tournament and be as strong as you possibly can. You want to take the games individually about what they look like, the tactical aspect, the technical side, and learn through the experience of being there. It’s something that is an overall experience, but clearly we’re going to a tournament to go as far as we can until the final game and hopefully take home the trophy.”
You can follow the progress of the young Gers on our Twitter account, @RFC_Youth, where we will provide updates throughout the tournament.