Development tournament a success in Serbia

The Football Association of Serbia (FSS) hosted the second in a series of pilot international development tournaments with the support of UEFA's HatTrick assistance programme.

Albania, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria joined the hosts for the Under-16 men's competition, while FYROM, Bulgaria and Croatia comprised the women's U17 field. The series kicked off with an excellent first event in Slovakia, and the Serbian instalment, played between 13 and 21 March, was another huge success – as attested to by everyone involved in the tournament at Stara Pazova, Serbia's HatTrick-funded National Training Centre.

Bulgaria U16 player Stefan Velkov relished having "a chance to be compared with players from other countries, at my level and even higher, which gives me a target for further development," while FSS general secretary Zoran Laković said: "It was a fantastic idea. Above all, the young players had the opportunity to meet, to break some barriers."

Watch the video above for more including interviews with participant coaches and technical observer Ross Mathie.