by TRAVIS CLARK

CAPE TOWN, South Africa — The third and final match of the Generation adidas tour is set for Sunday morning, and will provide a fitting end to the 2009 trip to South Africa. The collection of young MLS players face Ajax Cape Town reserves, a game they all want to win and close out the tour on a high note.

"We came here to play soccer and experience the land, but I definitely want to close out on a good note with a win," Kansas City defender Chance Myers said.

Even if the tour is closed out with a loss, the trips has been a rousing success, both on and off the field. On the field, the players have been training everyday to go with the two matches already played. Jammed in between the training sessions and matches has been sight seeing, a safari, and trips to South Africa's townships Soweto and Khayelitsha, which offered up a completely different view of the country.

Tucked away in the surrounding areas of major cities in South Africa are towns home to hundreds of thousands of people crammed in together living in tin shacks. The players hosted soccer clinics and played with local children in FIFA's new Football for Hope Center that recently opened in Khayelitsha. It made several members of Generation adidas realize how luck they have it.

"I take for granted being in the U.S.," Red Bull defender Jeremy Hall said. "When we were in Johannesburg we ran another clinic, and kids were running around the block with no shoes on. It's sad to see, but they're happy and it was good the they were happy to see us."

Social and historical lessons were also as a premium, as the players got a chance to see Nelson Mandela's house in Soweto and the apartheid museum in Johannesburg. Learning about the history and struggle of South Africa and its people came as a bit of a surprise.

"We've seen a lot of different things we didn't expect to see," said D.C. United defender Rodney Wallace. "South Africa holds a lot of history and we're very glad to see a lot of things going on out here."

On the competitive side of the trip, one game is left to focus on, and many believe it to be the toughest of the bunch. Ajax Cape Town is one of the best teams in the Premier Soccer League, as the club's first team currently sits in third place. The Generation adidas team won the opener against the Orlando Pirates' reserve side, 2-0, but fell to the reserves of Santos 2-1 last Wednesday — a win would be a perfect ending to what has been described as a great trip.

The educational part of the trip will conclude after the final match, with a trip to Robben Island, the site of Nelson Mandela's incarceration for 18 of the 27 spent behind bars. The unique perspective has enriched and inspired this group of Generation adidas players, revealing a side of South Africa many haven't seen up close.