For the first time in the history of Anambra State, a Grade A football talent hunt programme was brought to our doorsteps.
It was the FC Bayern Youth Cup Nigeria 2022 which held in April. The tournament featured ten teams and a pool of hundred players in attendance.
The project, supported by Victor Obinna Ede, VOE Foundation, was brought to Anambra by Aspire FC Foundation and Anambra State Sports Development Commission.
But, the success of the tournament was capped recently, when Team Nigeria emerged Champions of the 2022 edition of the FC Bayern Munich Youth Global Cup beating their opponents from Japan 3-1 which held at Olympia Stadion Munich, Germany.
Team Nigeria had a delegation made up of ten selected players from the Anambra-held tournament joining their counterparts from around the world.
A total of eight nations featured in the World Finals which saw Team Nigeria drawn in Group B alongside Singapore, Japan and Mexico.
The Nigerian team topped their group with seven points after winning two matches and drawing one.
Their tie with Mexico ended 2-2 while they demolished Singapore with a 3-0 win.
They went on to defeat Japan with 1-0.
Team Nigeria obliterated South American giants, Argentina 4-0 in the Semi-finals and would go on to clinch the coveted trophy beating Japan again now with a 3-1 scorelines in the finals to life the coveted title.
The Asian side had seen off USA in the other Semi-final contest.
Anambra born Mbezue Nzube and Chidera Nnadi, both from Aspire football club made the list of Team Nigeria.
The management of Team Nigeria also had Aspire FC Team Manager, Mr. Augustine Okoye and Aspire FC Foundation Brand Publicity Director, Ms. Chisom Omeokachie both from Anambra State.
As the story of football in Anambra continues to change for the better, it is worthy to note that Anambra State has started to do the right things to harness the potential of young people through sports.
In recent times, the state has seen a lot of football development programmes including epic tournaments such as the Super 8 Tournament held last year which finals attracted national stakeholders in football, coaching clinics held consecutively for the past two years and the introduction of health insurance programmes for footballers and coaches.
Infrastructural development also has improved as the Anambra State government lent her support by building a football pitch of international standard in Awka.
The FC Bayern Youth Cup which brought FC Bayern legends such as Hans Pfluger and Christopher Loch to Awka, launched all these background effort of football development to the world Stage.
As its consequence, Anambra born talents competed in the World Finals of the FC Bayern Youth Cup.
The FC Bayern Youth Cup has been a stepping stone for many football players to launch an international career since its yearly hosting in Nigeria started in 2018.
Daniel Francis who was discovered during the 2019 edition of the programme was recently signed by FC Bayern in a fanfare celebrated by Nigerian football lovers all over the world.
Other players spotted from the tournament have gone ahead to join the Nigerian National team in various international competitions including the FIFA world cup qualifiers.
Sports loving Anambrarians have began to see the positive impact of football and have begun to sponsor football programs. Kudos must be given to the sponsors of these programmes especially Dr. Emeka Okeke who has driven much of this change through his “My Anambra Football” project.
He has also made sure that Anambra is well represented at the FC Bayern Youth Cup World Finals by sponsoring the Anambra delegation to the tournament through his Foundation, Aspire FC Foundation.
Aspire FC Foundation is a human capital development foundation which amongst other capacity development projects, sponsors Aspire FC Adazi-Ani, currently playing at the Nigerian National League (NNL) while also creating opportunities for international football development collaborations in Nigeria.
The victorious Team Nigeria are expected back in the country in a couple of days with a scheduled visit to the state as part of efforts to bring the Nigerian Youth Cup to Anambra State and the main goal which is to set up FC Bayern Elite Academy in Anambra State.
