Arsenals of London and soccer excellence, a company based in the USA and are to set up a soccer academy in Ghana to harness and develop skills of young local players.

In an interview with the GNA, Mr John Orlando, a former player of Accra Great Olympics and a member of Nigeria’s 1980 Africa Nations Cup winning team, said Ghana was chosen because it abounds in raw soccer talents.

He said when such talents are properly harnessed, Ghana would become a powerful force in soccer to challenge the might of soccer super powers such as France, Italy and Spain.

Soccer Excellence is an after school company, that manages and trains semi-professional teams and school children from all over the USA, with over 50 coaches of various nationalities including Brazil, Nigeria and Ghana.

“At the moment we have acquired a plot of land near Kokrobite in the Greater Accra Region which we shall soon develop into an eight-field complex with ultra modern facilities, including a lodging complex, and a gym”.

The project, when completed, could be put at the disposal of any of the national teams if they so desire.

He said unlike the other academies in the country which train players basically for their foreign owners, “ours will be geared towards developing cadet players for the local teams.

“Since our work is an after school programme for boys and girls, we would like to place much premium on the training of female soccer players in Ghana to feed the national team.”

He said Soccer Excellence has been able to produce eight players for the US Olympic team and “with our expertise in coaching, Ghana stands to benefit immensely from the project.

“The most important thing we do for kids is to help them develop interest in the game by letting them play with balls at very tender ages.

“Then as they grow up, they develop the love for the game and we assist them in developing the necessary skills which we later sharpen before introducing them to formations and other intricacies of the game”.

He continued that soccer in the States is very popular, especially among girls of the exploits of their women national team in the Olympics and the Women World Cup.

He urged parents to encourage their children to take up the game since it can be combined with their academic work easily.