Switzerland-based former Ghanaian international Joetex Frimpong striker’s football academy in Nigeria is flourishing just two years after it was set up to hone talented players.
Frimpong has praised players of his academy for achieving a “small fairytale” after reaching the semi-finals of the Niger State Federation Cup.
The Frimpong Football Academy, established by Joetex to give youngsters an early chance to play football defeated Alala Babes 6-5 on penalties to make history.
Founded in 2010, it is the first time the academy will reach the semifinals and they are just one step away from making their debut in the national preliminaries of the 2013 Federation Cup.
However, the youngsters have to overcome Niger Tornadoes Juniors on Sunday to reach the final.
“It shows we are making progress at the academy. It’s our first time in the semifinals and our target is to play in the finals,†Joetex, who attained legendary status at Enyimba, said to supersport.com.
The academy’s general manager, Shaibu Mohammed, is optimistic that the youngsters will make it to the state finals.
“We’ve played them before so it won’t be something new,†Mohammed, who played for several teams in the league and had a stint at Tunisian side, Avernir Sportif de la Marsa told supersport.com.
Daniel Frimpong and Sadick Abdulrazak are recent graduates of the academy who have progressed in their trade. Daniel, a younger brother of Joetex, has made his top flight debut for Wikki Tourists, while Abdulrazak is close to a deal at second division Tornadoes.
The duo of Hamidu Kawu and Ibrahim Auta made history as the first set of players from the academy to join the former top flight side.
Both players trained with Enyimba in 2012 but did not get contracts.
Top stars at the academy include Alhassan Musa, Habibu Yusuf and Garba Salihu amongst others.
The winner of Sunday’s semifinal will face perennial campaigners, Tornadoes, in the final of the Niger State Federation Cup.
