Former Liverpool defender and Champions League winner Djimi Traore is heading to this summer's STATSports SuperCupNI.
Traore is head coach of elite Ghanaian academy side Right To Dream who will feature in the Under 18 section of the tournament.
The 42-year-old was part of the Liverpool side that came from 3-0 down to beat AC Milan on penalties in the 2005 Champions League final.
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It is a major coup for SuperCupNI organisers to one again attract Right To Dream to Northern Ireland, with Traore's presence adding more gloss to the already prestigious tournament.
SuperCupNI chairman Victor Leonard said: “We have built up a great relationship with the Right to Dream Academy and Gareth Henderby loves to bring his talented young footballers to Northern Ireland. They are obviously firstly attracted by the world class tournament but also fell in love with Northern Ireland and its people and have returned year on year.
"The academy have won the tournament on two occasions and have built up a big following of local fans with an attractive brand of free flowing football. We were delighted to recently learn that former Liverpool player and Champions League winner from the famous win in Istanbul in 2005, Djimi Traore is the Premier age group team Head Coach.
"We look forward to welcoming Djimi and his squad to the North Coast and I’m sure his involvement will add more appeal for fans."
This year's SuperCupNI will run from July 24-29 and feature teams from across the world. This year will also witness the debut of a first-ever girls' competition.
“This year we are delighted to stage a truly International Event over the three Council areas of Causeway Coast and Glens, Mid and East Antrim and Antrim and Newtownabbey, we appreciate all the support and encouragement these local authorities give to us," Leonard added.
"Despite the challenges we have brought together a strong field of competing teams from all corners of the world. We thank those teams for making the commitment to travel to participate in this, our “bounce back” Tournament."
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