How Amosun’s Wife Discovered Nigeria’s Number One Goalkeeper
Akpan Udoh, one of the players of the UPLIFT Football Team, sponsored on soccer training to the Udinese Football Club in Italy by the wife of the Governor of Ogun State, Mrs. Olufunso Amosun in 2013, is currently making waves at the ongoing FIFA U-17 World Cup Chile 2015.
Udoh, who is Nigeria’s number one goalkeeper at the ongoing tournament, was one of the 22 young football players discovered by Mrs. Amosun’s football talent hunt programme in 2013.
The UPLIFTING Under-15 Grassroot Football Talenthunt was organised by the wife of the Governor of Ogun State during the 2013 Easter holiday amongst all public secondary school students in Ogun State.
For the whole duration of the training, elimination and selection process, the competition had in attendance the likes of Mr. Jim Colston, a renowned scout for the English Premiership League in the United Kingdom and Nigeria’s celebrated ex- international, Chief Olusegun Odegbami as well as Football Ambassador, Mr. John Fashanu.
Talents discovered at the competition were then sponsored by the UPLIFT Development Foundation (Mrs. Amosun’s Foundation) to Udinese Football Club, Italy, for a two-week training camp.
While some of the other UPLIFT football players have joined various football academies to improve on their skills, others have been featuring in different local football competitions to showcase their talents.
Born in July, 1999, Akpan Udoh a student of Akesan Community High School in Iperu Remo in Ogun State, at the time of discovery, now displays sterling performances. This was evident in Nigeria’s matches against the United States of America and Chile, the host country where Nigeria beat the USA by 2-0 and thrashed Chile, the host country by 5 goals to 1.
With these results, Nigeria now tops the group A with six points and has progressed to the knockout stages. Udoh and his colleagues under Coach Emmanuel Amuneke will face Croatia in the early hours of tomorrow.
Nigeria is currently defending her FIFA U-17 World Cup title she won at the United Arab Emirates in 2013.