MTN Soccer Academy screening ends morrow …After recording high turnout

The curtain on the third edition of the MTN Soccer Academy southern sector screening rolls down tomorrow at the University of Ghana Campuse, having attracted a massive turn out of young footballers.

The massive turn out of over 5,000 footballers heralded this year's edition, which rolled off last Tuesday, with only seven players to be selected to join their seven Nigerian counterparts.

A trip to the screening venue yesterday at the Legon Park saw young footballers in long queues awaiting their turn for the screening exercise. The ambitious players were divided into groups and played under the supervision of some of the country's fine coaches - like Kuuku Dadzie and Nii Adu Sackey among others.

Those who demonstrated exceptional tactical brilliance and high IQ were promoted to the next segment, where upon the recommendation of coach Ibrahim Sunday, they will be handed the ticket for the EL-Wak final exercise on Monday and Tuesday, where the last 40 players will be picked for the personality test after a medical test.

“This year's edition is extraordinary in many ways, the players are well-conditioned and well-built to offer their Nigerian counterparts a good opposition,” said coach Sunday.

Coach Dadzie also noted that: “The exercise has revealed a lot of talented and skillful players, and the only difficulty confronting us is who to pick.”

The same exercise was conducted in Kumasi to pick those who excelled to join their Southern sector counterparts at the Opoku Ware High school yesterday.

After the screening exercise in both Ghana and Nigeria, seven players from each country totaling 14, would be inducted into the MTN Soccer Academy House for 80 days of exciting and competitive soccer reality show.

The winner for this year's show takes home a Hyundai Tuscon 4 Wheel Drive, One year contract with a local club in Ghana or Nigeria, followed by a two-week trial with an International Club and a Five Star Round Trip to the opening ceremony of the FIFA World Cup South Africa 2010.