Six NF Academy players on try outs in Sporting
Six NF Academy players on try outs in Sporting
This weekend’s NF Qualification Camp gathered 59 players in the Danish city of Nyborg. The competition at the camps was very high, with Sporting CP being the next stop for 6 of the Scandinavian talents.
59 players, all chosen through the NF International program throughout Scandinavia, made up three training groups. The players born in 2004, 2005 and 2006 participated in one of the 17 local camps in Norway, Sweden and Denmark. In each camp, a Player of the Age Category was named (one for each year), and the prize was a free stay in Denmark during the NF Qualification Camp.
In addition, former NF Academy players were invited to the camp, which had three high-quality training sessions in addition to a training match against Nyborg. Sporting CP sent his scout Akil Momade to the camp. He would play an important role on selecting the 6 players who are going to train in the Portuguese club’s world-renowned academy. Two players from each age group were selected, which was a very difficult job to Sporting scout.
I was impressed with the players, and to be honest I thought that the level would be lower than it was. I liked what I saw, and it was very difficult to pick 6 players out of so many talented players. Here are several players who could be part of both Sporting and Benfica’s academy, says scout Akil Momade.
READ INGVAR KOLBJØRNSEN’S ARTICLE: A product of the NF Academy school
The end of a journey
The players arrived on Friday afternoon and had their first session on Saturday morning followed by another session in the afternoon. Sunday morning was the third session. In the mean time the coaches were having player meetings and team meetings and the players were having fun social activities such as swimming in the beautiful sports center of Nyborg. On Sunday afternoon, all three age groups played matches against Nyborg.
For Academy Director Gonçalo Nunes, it was a great weekend. He saw the results of the journey for the NF International programs here. It has been a very popular program for all boys and girls and it will be repeated for years to come.
This is the confirmation that we had a good year as we have worked well and widely in all Scandinavia. We see the high level of many of our players here, and the development that they had through our programs. This is how we want to work. Develop players and help them reach their maximum potential, says NF Academy Director Gonçalo Nunes.
READ ALSO: Alfredo Steiner trained in Sporting Academy
The winners
It was not easy to pick six players to win a training stay with the Academy of Sporting. Sunday afternoon, however, 2 players from each age group were hand picked by the Portuguese scout.
2006: Blertun Isufi and Alfredo Steiner
2005: Bashir Bashiir and Ingvar Kolbjørnsen
2004: Noah Solheim and Saleh Wållberg
All six were obviously brilliant, and a training session with a Portuguese top club is exciting:
I had no thoughts about the Sporting Academy before coming here, but I am very grateful to have this opportunity. The goal was to come here to Denmark for good training and the rest would be a bonus. Here is a very high level of players, and the coaches have been very good. Socially it has been very nice and I have made many new friends. Here were also many players that I have met on previous NF Academy programs, says Noah Solheim.
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