Justice Baidoo

Tämä yhteyttä eurooppalaisille on tietenkin se, miten me pääsimme futbooliin ensimmäisenä. Mutta se on vahva historia. Eurooppalaiset rakennukset ovat vanhoja rahoituksia. Vahva suunnitelma ei ollut kulttuurissa, vaan miehissä. 400 vuotta sitten kulttuurissa on kuitenkin ollut globaalinen rauha.

Men and women selected for their physical attributes were sold and shipped abroad. They often spent months in the dungeons of these forts before being taken in chains from their homelands across the ocean to the West Indies and North America. This brutal history inevitably colors how I think about football migration. It is so important that Kenyan footballers have a say in their future, that they are fully rewarded for their value.

Se, että Rite to Dream Football Academy oli asettanut yli 25 vuotta sitten, oli väärin näkökulmasta. Ja se on tämä näkökulma, joka tarkoittaa, miksi koulu tarkoittaa opetusta niin hyvin kuin futboolia.

It's five weeks after my scouting expedition and I'm back at the Ride to Dream Academy. This time I'm joined by about 50 children who have passed through all the regional trials and come here for two weeks of intense training and exams to select who gets the scholarships. And I'm delighted to see among them a familiar face. Foster is here, as shy as ever.

One of the children that excels at the reading test is the small nine-year-old from Ashaiman, a slum area near Accra, where she lives with her father, a football coach. What's your name?

Wow, that's an interesting name. So when they did the Justify in Ashaiman, you went there to play? When the Right to Dream people came to Ashaiman? Yes. They first picked me. First final, second final, third final. And this one too, they picked me. They picked you? Five times they picked you? Yes. Yesterday did you pray? When you first came here, did you pray? Yes. My father prayed for me and I prayed.

I'll go abroad and go get money. The stakes are so high for these kids and facing them is an intense two weeks during which time most of them will be sent home.

But talking to those that have already made it into the academy, I realized that pressure doesn't go away. It can be hard for students when they go back home, where people wrongly think they have already made it as footballers and must be rich.

I am walking through one of the densely populated neighborhoods in Accra, Ghana's capital. It's a Sunday evening, usually people are relaxed, chickens are running around. I'm going to take you into a place which is a common sight in many Ghanaian neighborhoods like this one. That shows the sheer passion that people in Ghana have for the game of football.

I push aside a curtain and go through to a dark space where dozens of men are sitting in front of a big TV screen, watching something that is happening 3,000 miles due north in a city that perhaps none of them would ever visit.

It's a game between long-term rivals Manchester City and Manchester United. And it's essential viewing here in Accra.

You are wearing a Chelsea football club jersey. What are you doing at the Manchester City United game? As you can see, I'm against someone who gives my youth. And I want to see my going down, down, down the drain. Yes, to see them going down. Ghanaians love football. It's a passion. Ghana here, our best source is football. Because football has to excel Ghana into the higher stage. If it wasn't football, I don't think Ghana people would be knowing the name Ghana.

My United-hating friend is right that our country has produced many great footballers that have played in the world's top leagues.

Kolme suunnittelua ovat Muhammad Kudus, Kamali Dean Sulemana ja Ernest Nyama. Kaikki kaksi käsittelevät Rite to Dream Football Academyä täällä Ghanaissa. Ja Ghanaissa Black Starsissa taas tämä vuosi, on mahdollisuus yhä suurempaa ilmaa. Viisi pelaajaa 2022-tournamentissa tuli Rite to Dream Academystä.

It's a week on from the intense trials and I've come back to the academy to find out if Foster and Hallelujah made the cut or if they've been sent home. As soon as I get there, I seek out head scout Jamal and ask for an update. Hi Jamal. How are you? Good, good, good. How are you? So I left a lot of the kids here. Foster, Hallelujah. What's happened to all of them?

Se on todella mielenkiintoista, koska kun menimme Fosters-kulttuuriin, hän oli kuin pieni Messi tai pieni Ronaldo kulttuurissa. Kaikki sanoivat, että hän oli parhaassa kulttuurissa. Hän oli parhaassa kulttuurissa, mutta täällä on myös parhaat kulttuurit. Hän on parhaassa kulttuurissa, mutta ei tekemässä katjaa. Niin se on.

As usual, on a weekday morning, the students at Ride to Dream are training. The 18 remaining trialists are mixed in with the existing students. Yes! Get it! It's life! It's life! Keep it up! It's life! Yes! Move!

He just had the ball, lost the ball, and then was able to tackle and get it back, dribble, and then be able to put the ball into the net. It's amazing.

Jamal ja muut asiantuntijat katsoivat rauhoja piirissä. Nyt he eivät vain katsota taitoja, vaan katsotaan, miten pelaajat kuulevat ja oppivat. Yksi pelaaja, joka on yllättänyt kohtia, on Daniel. Se on toinen vuosi, kun hän on yrittänyt, kun ei ole tehty kattoja ensimmäistä kertaa. Minä olen Daniel Kofi. Olen Akraalissa. Olen 10 vuotta vanha.

Olet tullut tänä vuonna ja olet tullut takaisin tänä vuonna. Mitkä ovat asioita, joita he katsovat? Yhteistyö. Osaaminen. Ja miten hän puhuu. Ei välttämättä. Okei. Dani, haluaisin pelata jotain penaltia sinulle. Oletko hyvä penaltitakija? Okei.