By CHIMEZIE ANASO
Awka- No fewer than 10 young footballers, all below 16 years, were on Sunday selected as members of Team Nigeria for Germany trials in October this year.The players who were from 10 clubs were those who excelled at the Bayern Youth Cup which ended in Awka, the Anambra capital town on Sunday.The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that 100 players between the ages of 15 and 16 participated at the 3-day invitational tournament.The successful players were Sadik Mailafia, Adeoye Tunmise, Mohammed Abubarka, Abdulata Omale, Nzube Mbaezue, Onoja Uchenna, Ayinde Ibrahim, Aladinla Oladayo Franklin Ogbozor and Lateef Alabi. The Bayern Youth Cup was jointly sponsored by Aspire Foundation, VOE Foundation, Bayern Munich FC and Anambra Sports Development Commission.Obinna Edeh, Proprietor of VOE Foundation and representative partner of Bayern Munich in Nigeria said the tournament was worth the while and held in an environment which compared with what was obtainable at Allianz Arena Germany.Edeh said the selected players would be nurtured at the Bayern Munich Academy and expressed hope that they would hit the peak of their career in no distant time.Emeka Okeke, Chairman Board of Trustees of Aspire Foundation, said his organisation would continue to provide the platform for Anambra and Nigerian youths to express themselves at the world stage.Okeke said as a private organisation he would continue to support the efforts of the government by sponsoring events that would promote marketable skills and develop talent.The Bayern Youth Cup was held under the technical supervision of Hans Pflugler, a retired German player and member of the 1990 world cup winning team with support from Christopher Loch, coach of Bayern Academy.Nzube Mbaezue, one of the successful players said he was happy to have made the team and was hopeful that the trip to Germany would help him achieve his dream of being a professional Footballer.The Competition was won by FC Hearts of Kano who were the defending champions.(NAN)
