A group of young footballers from Atteridgeville in Tshwane/Pretoria have emulated the success of their adopted country, Brazil, by becoming football champions in South Africa.

Two hundred and eighty young football players from schools around Gauteng gathered at the Tshwane University of Technology in the South African capital city of Tshwane/Pretoria on Saturday to take part in the Group of Latin American and Caribbean Countries (Grulac) football tournament, eventually won by the ‘Brazilian' youngsters.

A festival of culture, music and football, the nine-a-side tournament was the culmination of an ongoing relationship between 16 Grulac embassies and their adopted schools.

The Grulac countries are Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Jamaica, México, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Surinam, Trinidad & Tobago, Uruguay, Dominican Republic and Venezuela.

"Today is the result of two or three months of work. Some of us have been to the schools to train the kids. Many of people who work at the Argentine Embassy have been very involved and the kids love it," said Deputy Dean of Grulac and Argentine Ambassador to South Africa, Carlos Sersale di Cerisano.

This is the ninth year that the tournament is being held. Since 2000 the Grulac embassies have adopted schools from less advantaged areas in South Africa, assisting the schools in terms of academic, sport and cultural exchange.

The initiative aims to provide opportunities to foreign missions in SA to make a social contribution to the youngsters of South Africa.

This year 16 primary school football teams in the under-13 category took part in the tournament. Fourteen represented a Grulac country while one represented South Africa and another represented the Grulac organisation as a whole. The members of the Grulac team will depart on a tour of Argentina Brazil and Uruguay next week.

Through these ongoing relationships the schools receive support from the embassies in the form of sport development and academic exchange programmes.

As part of the tournament each team adopted the names and national footballing uniforms of their respective embassies. Each embassy also set up their own stalls at the event highlighting their national food and drink.

In the end Jamaica ended up facing Brazil in the final after both semi-finals were decided on penalties. The players representing Brazil emulated the national team's victory in the FIFA Confederations Cup earlier this year winning the final 2-1.

The 2010 FIFA World Cup Organising Committee South Africa (OC) has been supporting the Grulac Tournament as part of the build up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup and its flagship My 2010 Schools Adventure programme since 2007.

2010 OC CEO Dr Danny Jordaan said the Grulac Tournament was a worthy cause for the OC to support.

"This tournament highlights the wonderful work being done by the countries from Latin America and the Caribbean in South Africa. It is an opportunity for young players to excel and learn more about not only football but also about cultures from these various countries."