Everton's youngsters have been denied a game against their Barcelona counterparts after the Catalan giants withdrew from the fixture due to “health concerns.”
The Blues Under-19s side were due to face Barca at the De Herdgang training ground in the third-placed play-off of the Otten Cup – a long-running and prestigious international youth tournament organised by PSV Eindhoven that dates back to 1947 – on Sunday afternoon but opposition coach Victor Valdes pulled the plug on the game.
The 37-year-old former goalkeeper, who played 535 games for Barcelona before stints in the Premier League at Manchester United and Middlesbrough, believed that his young squad did not have enough time to recover after playing two matches on Saturday and a semi-final against Inter on Sunday morning.
AS report that Barcelona were due to meet Everton in the third-placed play-off at 1:10pm on Sunday, less than three hours after losing 2-1 to Inter in the semis.
Everton , who were beaten 2-0 by hosts and record 20-times winners PSV in the morning, therefore claimed the bronze medals by default.
Valdes said: “As the person in charge of my players, I have made the personal decision to not play the game to decide third and fourth place in the Otten Cup tournament this morning.
“My decision is based solely on safeguarding the health of my young players as we were not satisfied with the organisation regarding rest periods between games.
“Today, after being eliminated in the semi-finals, we had no time to recover - just one hour between each match.
“Players of that age are not used to such exertion, especially at this point of the pre-season.
“I would like to add that before risking injury to members of my squad - or something more serious such as cardiac problems, which could have occurred had I not taken this decision; I assume all responsibility and blame my decision might incur.
“I will always protect my players, regardless of the consequences.”
