Team Nigeria have arrived Munich on Wednesday October 18th 2023 to defend their FC Bayern Youth Cup World Title.
According to Bayern Youth Cup Nigeria, Country Director, Mr Victor Edeh the team comprising of boys born in 2007 and 2008 will look set to emulate the feat of the class of 2022.
The 2022 set achieved a clean sweep at the last global event by not just winning the title but also winning all the individual awards and producing 8 players for the team of the Tournament.
He informed that Victor Orakpo and David Emmanuel from the class of 2022 have already represented the Bayern World Squad with Victor getting ready to pen a professional contract once he attains 18.
He said David has been selected to continue development at the Bayern Global Academy. Lawal Waris, also from the class of 2022 is on a full scholarship at the Brooke House College in England.
“The class of 2023 have already spent time together with a pre-tournament camp organised in Paris where they toured the French capital and played a friendly game against U18s of AAS Sarcelles at the Stade Riyad Mahrez, a pitch named after the Algerian international who developed at the French side”,
“Players representing Team Nigeria at the 2023 FC Bayern Youth Cup World Finals in Munich are Moses Solomon, Idris Bashir, Daniel Anate, Sodiq Mohammed, Saviour Mathias, Mohammed Mustapha, Aminu Nasiru, Amir Sabiu, Soliu Subair and Suleman Abubakar. They will be coached by the FC Bayern Youth Cup Nigeria 2023 winning coach, Opeyemi Azeez”,
“Activities at the FC Bayern Youth Cup Finals include a cultural night, tour of the Olympia Stadium, Allianz Arena and the Bayern Museum. The team will train and play friendly games at the Sabener Strasse, training facility for FC Bayern’s first team”,
“The tournament proper will hold on Saturday 21st of October at the Olympic stadium in Munich from 10am to 4pm and will see Team Nigeria defending their title against Germany, USA, Argentina, Mexico, India and fellow Africans South Africa and Rwanda who will be making their first appearances at the world finals”,
“The head coach for Team Nigeria 2023, Opeyemi Azeez says that it’s a big thing that the 2022 set achieved last year and it puts a lot of pressure on the team but we are confident that we can set our own legacy. He adds that the team having trained in France, plus additional training sessions in Munich will be able to shoot for the title”,
According to the media and publicity representative of the VOE Foundation, Chisom Omeokachie, the class of 2022 has set the bar high, but the foundation is confident in the capabilities of the class of 2023.
She also echoed that the tournament is one of the tools put in place by the VOE Foundation to showcase the talents and potential in grassroots football in Nigeria.
“The collaboration with FC Bayern has been very fruitful for the Nigerian football space with many Nigerian coaches benefiting from the FC Bayern Campus technical knowledge-bank through the VOE Foundation Coach Academy and of course the numerous players who have become professionals after being identified through the Youth Cup”,
Head of Team Nigeria delegation, Olajide Ajayi, thanks everyone who support the FC Bayern Youth Cup project that engages over 1000 Nigerian kids annually and supports their development in a bid to become professional footballers. He hopes that a new Nigerian star will be unearthed at the end of the tournament in Munich.
The team of the tournament will play a friendly game against the FC Bayern U17s on sunday 22nd October, 2023 at the Olympic stadium in Munich before the teams depart for their different countries.