By Jacob Ajom
A strong team of coaches from Serie A team, FC Torino had quite a busy time when they visited the country last week to assess the readiness of a young team of players being prepared to tour Italy and some parts of Europe for a series of friendlies.
Organisers of the tour, Act Sports disclosed that the tour is expected to expose the players, as well as enhance their chances of signing for clubs.
The training programme which held side by side a coaching clinic/seminar had 24 coaches in attendance.
It is part of an ongoing partnership between the Italian team and Act Sports Di Oyibo Limited, designed to polish the raw football talents, as well as help to upgrade the knowledge of coaches who continually seek improvements in their professional careers.
The training programme saw players of different ages between 16 and 19 showcase their talents in ball handling, possession, control and passing skills.
These fundamental aspects of the game formed the criteria upon which the coaches — the duo of Federico Caronte and Davide Tilbado, who led the FC Torino assessment team to Lagos — would pick the squad now bound for the trip to Italy on a month-long tour.
According to Pastor Samuel Robinson Oyibo, the director and chief executive officer of the academy, the visit to Italy will not only help to build the players technically, it will enhance their chances of getting signed by clubs that may need their services.
“The whole idea of bringing coaches from Torino FC to Lagos on this training programme was to make them see the players first-hand, then observe their strengths and weaknesses with a view to making them better,” Pastor Oyibo said in an interview.
