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Former Liverpool and England defender Stephen Warnock will travel to the 2021 7 Elite Academy International Tournament in Utah.

Warnock, who played 457 games during a 16-year professional soccer career, will attend the event as part of his new role as Official Ambassador for 7 Elite Academy.

Over 130 teams from across the world took part in last year’s competition and hopes are high of beating that record when games are played from February 4th to February 6th.

The former Reds star is aiming to draw on his own experience of attending tournaments as a youngster to help players take maximum benefit next spring.

He said: “The tournament is the key to everything. I grew up playing tournaments abroad and they give you the chance to move away into a new environment.

“It brings a winning mentality, which is the way I was brought up. You want to enjoy your soccer, but you want also want to win. I feel that’s what makes you who you are as a person.

“It is going to be very exciting to be in Utah for the tournament.”

Warnock was part of Fabio Capello’s England squad that travelled to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, giving him a first-hand account of tournament soccer at the highest level.

He added: “It will be interesting to see how the boys and girls approach these situations, what they can learn and how they approach every single game.

“Because there are so many games in such a short amount of time you have to manage yourself in a different way to get a better understanding of things.

“They will come up against different opposition, different tactics. My experience, the coaches’ experience that is passed onto the kids, hopefully that will be useful to them.”

The 2021 7 Elite Academy International Tournament will feature the return of the popular Pre-Academy jamboree, alongside penalty shoot-outs at the end of games.

Matches will be played on top-class fields at Little Valley and Sullivan in the Saint George area of Utah.

Nick Nield, 7 Elite Academy International Tournament Director, said: “It will be exciting to have someone with Stephen Warnock’s record in professional soccer attend our tournament next year.

“He has played at the very highest level and will be able to pass on his experience of the biggest soccer tournament in the world.

“As an organization, we are working extremely hard to produce another record-breaking tournament in 2021 and Stephen’s presence will help us to surpass the success of our 2020 event.”