The technical team of the Glo Soccer Academy this afternoon rolled down the curtain on the Kumasi phase of their screening exercise after what they describe as a very tough second day of auditioning for young Ghanaian talents for West Africa’s biggest soccer talent hunt. Celebrated Nigerian ex-international player and coach, Tijani Babangida, told journalists that day two of screening for the Glo Soccer Academy was a ‘very difficult exercise’. ‘So many good players turned out for the auditioning. I became convinced that Ghana abounds in skilful players and the fact that 90 percent of the youngsters I saw here (in Kumasi) are left-footed makes the future of Ghana soccer even more awesome. Never in my life have I encountered so many left-footed players and they are all skilful,’ Babangida said. Kumasi was the first of nine screening venues across West Africa –in Ghana, Nigeria and the Republic of Benin – for a realty show which starts with the short-listing of 33 teenaged talents for the Glo Soccer Academy. After a month’s training, sixteen (16) finalists will be selected to attend a training tour of the Manchester United Soccer schools and will be awarded mouth-watering prizes which include cash prizes and school scholarships. The most valuable player (the MVP) would in addition win the princely sum of sixty thousand Ghana Cedis (GHC60, 000) while the remaining 15 finalists would take home twelve thousand Ghana Cedis (GHC 12,000) each. Over the two days of screening at KNUST’s Paa Joe Stadium, nearly two hundred young players, aged between 14 and 17 were auditioned according to their preferred positions of play in a number of test games set against opposing sides. According to a poll conducted on the last day of screening, majority of the boys—mostly students—have been playing for an average of 3 years and understand what is at stake with experience. A 14-year old Samuel, who qualified from Day 1 said he had been playing soccer for over 6 years and would do everything within his means to become the best player, and an elated Evans Kusi, a 16 year old JSS graduate picked after today’s screening session says he has kicked the ball around since he was two years old and is convinced that he will emerge the most valued player at the end of the training. Glo has assembled highly experienced and celebrated ex-football stars and coaches from Ghana, Nigeria and the Republic of Benin to conduct the month-long screening exercise and they will be joined at the Glo Soccer Academy facility in Lagos by a technical crew from Manchester united. Still marvelling over the quality of players after his first encounter with Ghanaian teenagers, coach Babangida, in his days a prolific midfieder for the Green Eagles and Dutch clubside, Ajax, said he dreaded a future team that will be built around ‘this up-and-coming generation of Ghanaian and Nigerian youth’. ‘You would realise that Ghana and Nigeria have the same style of play....our games are almost the same. The only striking difference in our games is that Nigeria puts a lot of power behind the ball while Ghana puts amazing skills behind their ball....as I have witnessed with these kids here today. So anytime we met, it has always been power versus skills. But, the rivalry aside, come to think about the strength of a single team that will be built with a blend of Ghana’s super skills and Nigeria’s super power, ‘he said. The technical team is headed for the Northern Regional capital of Tamale, where prospective academy candidates will be screened for two days, starting Friday, October 12. To register for screening in Ghana, prospective candidates are expected to load GHC30 to their Glo line and text their name, age, and preferred screening location to 3836.