Foreign football scouts, apparently impressed by the recent record fifth win of the FIFA Under-17 World Cup by Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets, besieged the just-concluded Real Sapphire Football Tournament held in the Epe area of Lagos.

The scouts from different clubs in Europe were at the tournament to look for budding talents, and they left fully satisfied with what they saw.

Speaking at the end of the tournament that featured youth teams from 12 states in the country, the President, Real Sapphire Football Academy, Frank Peters, said that if properly harnessed, Nigeria has the talents to continue to dominate world football at all levels.

According to him, that Nigeria won the Chile 2015 U-17 World Cup is no fluke because from what was seen at the tournament, talents abound in Nigeria that would continue to dominate the championship for a very long time.

Mr. Peters said that what is required is proper orientation and management of the youths and discipline on their part, since that “you can only take a horse to the river; you cannot force it to drink water.”

According to him, the scouts saw for themselves the reason why Nigeria is dominating the FIFA U-17 competitions and could not hide their surprise because of the quality of talents on display at the event.

The Real Sapphire Academy boss said that the tournament, which holds twice a year, would be serving as a feeder to Nigerian football both at the local and international levels.

He urged the boys to be discipline and focussed, adding that with hard work and determination, they would rule the world using the gift of football that God has given to them.

The participants commended the management of Real Sapphire Football Academy for the opportunity that the tournament gave to them to express their talents.

They said that the tournament has given them lots of exposure and hope, especially the foreign scouts that came to watch their matches and that they would from now onwards take their football career very serious.

Some of the youth teams came from Edo, Delta, Osun and Lagos, among others.

•Photo shows the European football scouts at the Real Sapphire Football Tournament . . . recently in Epe, Lagos.

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