By Nangamso Mabindla
30 January 2007

A YOUTHFUL Gefle IF arrived in East London yesterday and immediately began talking up their chances of a clean sweep in their two South African matches.

The Swedish Premier League soccer team will face a Buffalo City Invitation Team tomorrow and South African Premier Soccer League high-flyers Bloemfontein Celtic on Wednesday, 7 February. Both games will be played at the Absa Stadium, with kickoff at 7 pm.

Buffalo City invited the Nordic club to the lush coastal town as a way of strengthening its partnership with the Swedish city of Gävle, the home of Gefle IF. The two cities have a twinning agreement. The matches will also be used to market Buffalo City and its facilities as a base during the 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup.

Speaking to the media at the East London Airport, Gefle IF coach Per Olsson said that he knew little about South African soccer, but he promised that his team aimed to win both games.

"We will only have an idea of the style of football when we play on Wednesday. We are using this trip as a way of introducing our seven new players to our team. Even though we know little about this county's football, we would like to win our two games."

However, he said that the team expected a tough game against the more professional Free State outfit. "We know we'll have a tougher game against Celtics. Our intention is also to blood in players in our team. Our average age is 24, which gives a good indication of what we are all about," he explained.

He also gave top local players hope of playing in Europe. "Even though we are not on a scouting mission, if we find good players here we might invite them for trials in our team."

The municipality's programme manager for 2010, Vuyo Zambodla, said he was excited that Gefle IF had decided to use the city for some pre-season training. "Hopefully this will [become] their annual winter training camp. I really hope that this is the beginning of a partnership."

On Thursday, 1 February the team will host a coaching session at the Sisa Dukashe Stadium in Mdantsane.