Former Super Eagles star, Mutiu Adepoju and Ex-Vice President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Seyi Akinwunmi will on Friday, April 5 grace the grand finale of the 2nd FCV Gladiator Football Camp at Grange School, Lagos.
The camp which is organised by Lagos-based Dynaspro Promotion in collaboration with UK-based FCV International Academy has been endorsed by the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) is aimed at nurturing talents with the intention of combining football with education.
Adepoju who was part of the Super Eagles for the FIFA World Cups in 1994, 1998 – where he scored in a 3–2 win against Spain; was also a member of the Nigeria U20 team that played in the 1989 FIFA World Youth Championship while his brace against the United States (which featured legendary goalkeeper Kasey Keller in goal) in the semi-finals ensured a final against Portugal, a 2–0 defeat is expected to mentor the participants on the need to marry football with education coupled with some other tips to succeed on the field of play.
Adepoju who played mostly as an attacking midfielder and spent most of his career in Spain, amassing La Liga totals of 175 games and 22 goals over the course of seven seasons and representing mainly Racing de Santander and Real Sociedad said he decided to be part of the camp in order to follow his passion for youth development. “I believe in discovering future stars and I hope to show them what it takes to be successful through hard work and discipline and take them through my journey as an ex-footballer,” an excited Adepoju said.
For the Head of Football at FCV International Academy, Grant Brown, the enthusiasm shown by the participants daily inspired them to motivate the students. “I am impressed with the students because they showed sincere interest in what they are learning which is a motivating factor for us and we hope we can help them to discover themselves and continue to work hard even after the camp. At FCV, we are interested in the whole development of the child and we will continue to support Nigerian students in their quest to combine football with education,” the former Leicester City defender added.
Over 100 students between age 6 and 18 have been taking part in the camp as four outstanding participants would be selected by the coaches for scholarship at FCV International Academy in the UK.