Still basking in the euphoria of the historic defeat of Arsenal Beach Soccer team at the COPA Lagos Beach Soccer tournament early December , the management of Pepsi Football Academy has pledged to build on this win to establish a strong beach soccer culture in the academy. Recall that the Pepsi lads beat Arsenal Beach Soccer team, the current European champions, 3-2 in one of the matches of the tournament, the only team to defeat Arsenal in the competition.
At a gala night for the players and officials of Pepsi Academy in Lagos at the weekend, Director of the Academy Chief Kasimawo Laloko commended the players and officials for their commitment and dedication noting that Pepsi Academy will continue to provide conducive environment for excellence in grassroots football development. He singled out the players that participated in Copa Lagos for special praise for their tenacity and courage in beating a world class team like Arsenal.
Also speaking during the gala night, Head of Marketing, Seven Up Bottling Company plc, Mr. Norden Thurston commended the excellent football artistry of the players especially the boys from Kano who played earlier in the day at the Festival of Youth football competition at the Legacy Pitch of the National Stadium, Lagos.
Mr. Thurston said apart from football skills, the players showed team work and discipline which are some of the values the Pepsi Academy is inculcating in the players. According to him, the challenge is to benchmark the academy against the best in Europe and South America in terms of facilities, quality of coaching, among others, noting that this is why the academy has been organizing regular training and seminars for the coaches.
Highlight of the gala night was the award of trophies and medals to Most Valuable Players of the Pepsi Festival of Youth tournament. Ibrahim Aminu from Pepsi Academy Kano won the highest goals scorer with six goals and MVP of the tournament.