Sports
RMFA: Screening Process Is To Get The Right Candidates –Coach
The head coach Port Harcourt Real Madrid Football Academy, Sunny Iseokwehma, has said that the screening processes conducted to gain admission into the academy were to get the right candidates.
According to him, coaches are using their experiences to bear in the selection of the kids, adding that not every child has the talent and potential to play football, but noted that some of them are intelligent.
Iseokwehma said this on Wednesday, in an exclusive interview with Tidesports, after the final screening exercise, at Sharks Football Stadium in Port Harcourt.
He explained that the aim of the academy was to catch them young and groom them to stardom.
“Some of the kids are raw talents, but with the help of a coach they will get better.
The two-day screening was hectic, but by the grace of God, we are done with the football screening.
On the first day of the programme, parents of the children did not help matter, because every parent wanted their child to partake.
“My happiness is that at the end of the day there is no complain from any angle,” Iseokwehma said.
The head coach further stated that he did not know the final number of children admiitted right now, not until he got the final screening list from other coaches who partook in the screening process.
“We are using our brain as professionals to make sure everything is done properly,” he stated.
By: Kiadum Edookor
Iwobi spoke to Tidesports source ahead of Nigeria’s crunch playoff semi-final against Gabon on Thursday, November 13, in Rabat, Morocco.
The 28-year-old was reacting to Nigeria’s shaky World Cup qualifying campaign that saw the Eagles finish second in Group C behind South Africa’s Bafana Bafana.
“We’ve managed to rescue ourselves from the dead,” Iwobi told Tidesports source.
We know we have the players and the abilities to compete against any other country in the world.”
The Fulham star pointed to Nigeria’s star power, highlighting African Footballer of the Year winners Ademola Lookman and Victor Osimhen as proof of the squad’s quality.
“We have last year’s African best player (Ademola Lookman), the year before that (Victor Osimhen),” he said.
“It’ll be a shame if we don’t make it, but we have a lot of confidence. We just have to prove it to ourselves.”
Nigeria’s path to the United States, Canada and Mexico has been turbulent, with two coaches departing during the early stages of qualifying before Éric Chelle steadied the ship to steer the Super Eagles into November’s CAF playoffs.
Four nations from the continent – Nigeria, Cameroon, DR Congo and Gabon – will vie for a solitary spot to compete in next March’s inter-confederation playoffs, with a view to joining the already nine qualified African nations at the Finals.
It would mark Iwobi’s second appearance at the World Cup Finals and the Super Eagles’ first since the 2018 edition of the competition.
Back then, Iwobi featured in all three games as Nigeria was knocked out in the group stage.
The Chief Executive Officer(CEO) and Publisher of the Atlantic Bell Online medium, Mr. Celestine Ogolo has advised sports writers in Nigeria to diversify in sports writing and not to concentrate on football reporting alone.
The Deputy National President of Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) Mr. Bonny Nyong has expressed commitment to support sports development and move SWAN forward.