ROVERS youth were a whisker away from beating the "best in the world" in a prestigious international tournament.

The youngsters lost on penalties to Ajax in the final of the Rotterdam competition.

And rising star James Beattie was voted the player of the tournament with four goals.

Rovers drew 1-1 with Ajax on Friday, the Dutch boys equalising a James Beattie goal with four minutes remaining of the group section tie.

And yesterday's final remained goalless after extra time.

Both sides converted their first five penalties, Keith Brown the unlucky player to miss from the spot in sudden death.

Other group matches saw a 0-0 draw with Sporting Club Feyernoord on Saturday morning before a 6-0 trouncing of Sparta Rotterdam in the afternoon.

Beattie scored twice, with Graham Cassin also on target with two, Craig Chisholm and Paul Trudgill completing the scoring.

Another Beattie goal sealed Sunday morning's semi-final against Feyernoord.

A proud Jim Furnell said: "They were excellent. They played the best youth side in the world twice and should have won both games."

Other sides taking part were Bayern Munich, Helsingborg of Sweden and PSV Eindhoven.

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