The past week saw the 2nd MultiChoice Diski Challenge Tour of the Netherlands.
Lamontville Golden Arrows Football Club, who were crowned 2015/16 Champions on the last day of the League, arrived in the Netherlands on Saturday, 19 March 2016 and were officially welcomed by South Africa’s ambassador to the Netherlands, at the Ambassador’s official residence in Den Haag. The welcome was attended by over two hundred guests made up of South Africans living in the Netherlands.

Following the Ambassador Luncheon, the team made their way to Zwolle, which would be their base camp for the week-long tour.

In keeping with the theme of the MultiChoice Diski Challenge which focuses on the development of footballing talent, the tour centred around football and providing the team with the opportunity of playing against European competition, and to work with international football experts.

Golden Arrows  played three friendlies, lining up against two Eredivisie Reserve teams, PEC Zwolle and FC Twente, and 2nd division first team FC Den Bosch.

Arrows went down in the first game  3-1 to PEC Zwolle.

The 2nd match saw FC Twente narrowly beating Golden Arrows 2-1 in a game where a draw would have been a fair result.

The last game saw Golden Arrows travel to Hertogenbosch where they beat FC Den Bosch 3-1.

Post-Match Analysis provided by PEC Zwolle Technical Team, as well as a training session conducted by Netherlands Legend, Johan Neeskens, at the world class KNVB Sports Centre provided the team with expert football insight that the team put into practice in their final game, and which they will be able to take with them and implement as they look to defend their title.

Time was also set aside for the team to experience the culture of the country they were touring.

The team got to experience life in the town of Zwolle through a Town Tour. They also got the opportunity to explore Amsterdam through a tour of the Amsterdam Arena, where the players were able to “walk in the footsteps” of the overseas footballers that grace the stadium, as well as to see the sights of Amsterdam on a tour-guided Canal Tour.

The Tour ended with a trip back to the Amsterdam Arena for the International Friendly between the Netherlands and France.