ASPIRE Football Dreams Success in Vietnam

HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam -

- More Than 20,000 Young Hopefuls Narrowed to Three Lucky Boys

Over the past three weeks, Vietnam has played host to ASPIRE’s Football Dreams program - the largest football talent search of its kind in the world. Experts from ASPIRE Academy for Sports Excellence teamed with some of the sports’ top coaches as they assessed over 20,000 would-be footballers.

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ASPIRE Football Dreams is a unique scouting project aimed at identifying the future talent of world football. Launched in 2007, the ASPIRE Football Dreams project has tested over 715,000 young footballers from Asia, South America and Africa.

The trial in Vietnam was open to all boys born between 1994 and 1996 and took place over 50 football pitches throughout the region with the help of 240 volunteers. The top 50 players then took part in the final selection phase; an intensive three day assessment period at Thanh Long Sports Complex. Over the course of the three days, the 50 hopefuls were narrowed down to three talented individuals - two midfielders and a striker.

Ma Van Tuan (January 15, 1994), Dang Anh Tuan (August 1, 1994) and Nguyen Thai Sung (September 22, 1994), all midfield players will head to the ASPIRE Academy for Sports Excellence where they will stay for a critical final month of careful evaluation, training and development from ASPIRE’s dedicated team of experts before their futures are decided.

Josep Colomer, ASPIRE Football Dreams Program Director said: “The three selected players will spend January 2010 at ASPIRE Academy for Sports Excellence where they will be joined by an additional 48 contenders selected throughout this year’s ASPIRE Football Dreams program. We are very grateful to have benefitted from the complete support of the Vietnam Football Federation and we feel that we’ve evaluated the best young players throughout the country. Our selection is based on the physical, tactical and team integration abilities of the players.”

ASPIRE Football Dreams Background Information:

The project relies on a team of dedicated coaches and experienced talent scouts. Football Dreams provides hundreds of thousands of 13-year-old children with the opportunity to demonstrate their skills with the hope of one day becoming professional football players with brilliant futures.

Commenting on Football Dreams, Laurent Joliat, ASPIRE Head of Marketing and Communications, said: “This exceptional talent search offers participating countries the opportunity to be exposed to the very latest training and evaluation methods in football talent detection and assessment. We praise the national football federation’s cooperation and we’re dedicated to leaving behind a legacy as a caring partner for youth sports development.”

Q: How does it work throughout the World?

A: The 2009 ASPIRE Football Dreams schedule includes 15 countries across Asia, South America and Africa.

Country Date Rwanda 01.08-20.08 Ghana 29.08-19.09 Nigeria 26.09-15.10 Mali 17.10-05.11 Guatemala 07.11-26.11 Costa Rica 07.11-26.11 Paraguay 28.11-17.12 Senegal 02.05-21.05 Cameroun 23.05.-11.06 Ivory Coast 13.06.-02.07 Vietnam 04.07.-23.07 Thailand 04.07.-23.07 Kenya 01.08-20.08 Tanzania 01.08-20.08 Uganda 01.08-20.08

Q: What is the overall objective of the programme?

A: In short, the objectives are talent identification and development. ASPIRE Academy for Sports Excellence is built on the principle of recognising and developing potential sports talent through a programme which provides the best coaches and facilities to enable sporting, social and educational progression.

Q: How does the Football Dreams initiative fit into the bigger ASPIRE picture?

A: ASPIRE is a unique institution which provides the best sporting environment for the development of young talent while also promoting the benefits of a sports culture for the health of the country. ASPIRE is one of the best, if not the best, sports academy in the world, attracting the highest qualified coaches, teachers and medical staff to work in outstanding facilities for the benefit of helping develop a new generation of healthy, talented people.

As well as working with the best student athletes, ASPIRE also aims to improve the general health of the people of Qatar through its ASPIRE ACTIVE programme. As part of our goal of encouraging sporting activity, we are always receptive to working with the right organisations and companies to ensure that our message is strong and that we are able to access as many people as possible.

General Notes to Editors:

Created in 2004, the ASPIRE Academy for Sports Excellence in Doha has the dual aims of identifying and transforming promising student athletes into world-renowned champions across a wide range of sports and to act as a beacon to draw sporting culture into the centre of life in Qatar and the surrounding region.

The Academy is distinguished by a philosophy which aims to develop the student as a whole, providing them with full academic, social and sporting development.

Unrivalled facilities, housed in and around the world’s largest purpose built indoor sports dome, ensure the Academy’s reputation as one of the foremost sporting and educational institutions in the entire international community, enticing an ever-increasing number of visitors and users, from sporting legends to global political leaders.

Every aspect of the development of elite athletes is catered for by one indoor and seven outdoor football pitches, athletics tracks, an Olympic-sized swimming pool, diving pool, combat arenas, gymnastics arena, specially designed fitness weight rooms, lecture halls, dormitories to accommodate what will eventually become 1,000 students, a medical centre and many more facilities.

The ASPIRE ACTIVE initiative is a community engagement program spread across the country ensuring that thousands of the nation’s residents have accessible and advanced health and fitness activities as routine aspects of their lives. Each social group is catered for by tailor-made classes and programs.

ASPIRE TODAY, INSPIRE TOMORROW www.aspire.qa For media enquiries please contact Laurent Joliat, ASPIRE Head of Marketing & Communications: E: laurent.joliat@aspire.qa M: +974-413-6444

Source: Aspire Academy for Sports Excellence

For media enquiries please contact Laurent Joliat, ASPIRE Head
of Marketing & Communications: E: laurent.joliat at aspire.qa M: +974-413-6444