Twenty players have caught the attention foreign scouts who stormed Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, for the ongoing Governor’s Football Tournament, popularly known as the ‘Prosperity Cup’.
The scouts, made up of both local and foreign parties, had visited the state few days ago with the hope of identifying raw talents for possible trials abroad, and had since returned to their base, promising to reveal the players that caught their attention.
In a statement from the Media Officer of the tournament, Patrick Ndubuisi on Wednesday, the Director General of the Prosperity Cup, Mr Ono Akpe said the scouts have disclosed that ten out of the twenty players, will soon be invited officially and will be leaving the country for trials.
Mr Akpe who was elated by the development, reiterated that his joy will be completed once the players are successful in their trials and sign professional contracts abroad.
“This has been our vision, that from this tournament which has come to stay, to give potential footballers the opportunity to showcase their skills, so that they can be spotted and move on to play professional football in both local and foreign clubs.
“We are already working on inviting the scouts for a second time, and that will be towards the end of the competition, and I believe that more players will discovered, because we intend to present more selected players, than what we brought in this phase.
“Once again I wish to thank His Excellency, Senator Douye Diri, for this great support to this competition. This about the most successful so far because of what we are achieving. I thank the Youth and Sports Development Commissioner, Hon Daniel Igali, and other stakeholders for their various contributions, and we hope it gets better in the future.”
Meanwhile, the ongoing Prosperity Cup is one game away from reaching the Round of 16 stage, with Opolo, Amarata, and EGM FC, joining the list of those that have progressed from the last set of games.
Opolo community defeated hard fighting Federal Medical Centre by 2 goals to 1 at the Opolo Centre on Monday, while at the BDGS centre, Amarata community defeated one of the tournament favorites, Bayelsa Medical University, 5-4 on penalties, after a goalless draw, with Agbura losing to Akaba 5-3 on penalties after a two all draw in the other game.
The last preliminary game will be between Famgbe community and Akaba which comes up on Thursday 2nd June, at the BDGS centre.
Other teams that have made it to the Round of 16 include, UAC FC from Akassa centre, Odioma FC from Brass Centre, Peretorugbene FC from Isampou centre, Agbayama FC from Agge centre, Agoro FC from Ebedebiri centre, Agbere FC from Sagbama centre, Anyama Ogbia FC from Otuokpoti centre, Opume FC from Otuasega, Okoroma Tereke FC from Okoroma Tereke centre, Amassoma FC from Amassoma centre, and Osokama FC from Oporoma centre.
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