Scouting: Players showing potentials in all parameters of the game will get picked – Steve Ogbeche

By Saheed Afolabi

Amadehi Football Club in conjunction with Sports Solutions UK, Mr Uzoma Obi have decided to come together to help make the dreams of football youngsters in the grassroots to reality as they are set to organize a scouting program where the best legs will be picked to sign professional contracts with European clubs.

Speaking to ECHONEWS, one of the organizers of the scouting program and a renowned Football Player Manager, Steve Ogbeche disclosed to our correspondent that the scouting program is to unearth hidden talents, who are looking for a big platform to actualize their dreams.

“The scouting programme or what I would prefer to call a Justify programme principally seeks to unearth top young footballers, who would ordinarily not have a template to display their talents, in a series of matches played before the watchful Eagle-eyes of our European scouts from top clubs in Europe like Eintracht Frankfurt (this year’s Europa League finalists), Proleter Novi Sad of Serbia, Jens Lehmann as well as scouts representing top Portuguese teams and other teams in Europe, for a chance to begin their professional football sojourn in the European leagues.

“The players are expected to justify themselves before the scouts by giving them a positive headache through the display of their sporting qualities.”

The bearded Steve Ogbeche stated that, players will be picked according to how they impress the European scouts and the scouting program will have a positive knock-on effect on grassroots football.

“This is dependent on the players, one thing my European partners stated in no uncertain terms is that they are looking to pick top talents with pro-potential who wow them across all parameters of the game; physical, technical, tactical, psychological and social quotients. A few will be picked based on their performances and what the scouts seek to fill in Europe in terms of the playing personnel type needed in the clubs they represent.

“You and I will agree that when a few players get picked, it influences value chain realisation as this will have a positive knock-on effect on grass root football.

“Our quest isn’t to discover established players, we are in Nigeria to fetch grassroot top talents who possess the wherewithal to eke a career in Europe. This invariably means grassroots football will definitely be influenced positively as a player picked triggers a domino effect on the sporting landscape, inspiring hope and confidence that as long as they are top, they would be fetched by our scouts in our programme, which is usually bi-annual or tri-annual, as the case or need dictates.”