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Foreign coach identifies talents for Copa Lagos beach soccer tourney

By Editor
04 October 2017   |   3:38 am
Angelo Shirinzi has gone round about six centres in Lagos in search of fresh talents for the forthcoming Copa Lagos slated to take place between December 8 and 10 at the Eko Atlantic.

Supersand Eagles’ striker, Ogbonnaya Okemiri (right) tries to evade a Swiss star during their game at the Copa Lagos Beach Soccer Championship at the Eko Atlantic. Nigeria is aiming to qualify for the Bahamas 2017 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup. PHOTO: KINETICSPORTS.

A prominent Beach Football Coach, Angelo Shirinzi has started a process that could turn around the sport in Nigeria courtesy of the grassroots initiative of Copa Lagos organized by Kinetic Sport.

Schirinzi has gone round about six centres in Lagos in search of fresh talents for the forthcoming Copa Lagos slated to take place between December 8 and 10 at the Eko Atlantic.

Managing Director of Kinetic Sports, organisers of COPA Lagos, Samson Adamu at the weekend revealed that Tarkwa Bay and Badagry Beach were some of the places the coach visited to look for talents.

Schirinzi, who led Tahiti to the win silver at the last edition of Beach football World Cup, said he was impressed with the talents in Nigeria.

“I was amazed to see many talented players in Lagos. Over 300 of them were brought together and I picked 23 who will be prepared for about 10 days before the Club Challenge at Copa Lagos,” he said.

On the grassroots initiative, Adamu said: “We want a solid team to be raised for the forthcoming event. We are also looking at a bigger picture beyond the three-day competition. We want to give some of the youths opportunity they have been looking for to excel.

“The sponsors have been great and that is why we are trying to make the competition better every year. FCMB has been our lead sponsor since inception, special thanks also goes to Pepsi, official beverage, Hero, official beer and Wakanow, who joined up as the official Travel Agency for Copa Lagos.”

Meanwhile, Kinetic Sports has lined up some interesting activities as part of this year’s Copa Lagos. They include its corporate social responsibility event, tagged ‘Clean the Beach,’ which is aimed at conserving the beach, encouraging cleanliness in the environment and preserving marine life.

The exercise will involve over 200 people, including beach football players, staff, sponsors, celebrities, influencers and other volunteers.

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