Benfica to Establish Academy in Ghana

By Raymond Ackumey

Portuguese soccer giant, Benfica is set to build a soccer academy in Ghana to unearth talents.

The project will be spearheaded by Ghanaian licensed FIFA agent, Seedorf Asante, who is partnering the club to undertake its first major work on the continent.

This came to light when Asante led a delegation which included the CEO of Global Football, Fernando Mendes; Benfica youth team Coach David Manuel and one of the club's directors, Luis Miguel to meet the Minister of Youth and Sports (MoYS) Mr. Isaac Asiamah for a formal introduction and a briefing on the project.

He said the Academy will serve as a point of spotting talents and blend natural skills with the technical know-how to develop young players into great professionals.

Mr. Asiamah reminded that Ghana has a lot of talented youth yet to be identified and tasked the group to work hard to identify, train and nurture their skills to become world class players.

The government, he said, was committed to the development of the infrastructure base of the country to help with talent development.

He said MoYS welcome such initiatives which will go a long way to add to the existing infrastructure.

Mr. Asiamah pledged his outfit's support and announced an action plan to engage all stakeholders and policy makers to ensure the academy dream becomes a reality.

The meeting also discussed how to promote soccer in children at younger ages and help them grow their talents professionally.

The team presented customized Benfica Jerseys to the President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo and Mr. Asiamah.

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