Following the squad's
impressive performance at matches around the world, head coach Jimmy Gilligan
announces two additional slots in the Nike Academy.
Twenty-six
days into Nike Football's The Chance World Tour, the brand has announced that an
additional two players from the final squad will now be awarded places in the
Nike Academy for the remainder of the 2012/13 season.
Only
one spot had been up for grabs, but the quality on display among the 16
finalists has persuaded Jimmy Gilligan, Head Coach of the Nike Academy, to open
the door to three of this year's finalists.
Over
the past few weeks, The Chance finalists have impressed everyone they have
played for, including the coaches of Juventus, U.S. Soccer and Manchester
United. The team enjoyed a 4-3 win over USA U-17s and a solid 6-0 win over the
Juventus U-19 team, and only narrowly lost 2-1 to the Manchester United youth
team.
"It's
a real pleasure to work with this group of finalists," Gilligan said.
"They're very strong, hardworking, don't take anything for granted and
there's an awful lot of technical ability in there. That being the case, we
feel that by taking just one of the lads into the Nike Academy we would risk
missing out on some genuine talent, so we're very much looking forward to
welcoming three of them into the fold at the end of the World Tour."
Nike’s
The Chance is a unique global talent search that gives amateur footballers the
chance to prove themselves on an elite stage. Three players from the 16
finalists on the tour will ultimately join the Nike Academy – a full-time
player academy based in England and supported by the FA Premier League.
Since
the start of The Chance competition, 16 players have turned their participation
into a professional club contract. The most recent, Tom Rogic from Australia,
signed for Scottish Champions Celtic FC and recently played for the Australia
national team.
