ALUKO GIVES NIGERIA YOUNGSTERS A NEW DIRECTION

Nigeria forward Sone Aluko has taken the story of his football success beyond the field of play, using the European off-season to teach Nigerian youths the fundamentals of success through discipline and hard work, writes ’TANA AIYEJINA in this reportCrowded by over 120 attentive youngsters recently inside the main bowl of the National Stadium, Lagos, Nigeria forward Sone Aluko took time to tutor these up-and-coming players on the rudiments of building a successful professional career in football.For many, it came as a surprise seeing the Hounslow, England-born footballer teaching young players what it took to become the best in their chosen field. Perhaps some would have felt he should be grooming kids in England, where he was born and bred.But Aluko has never hidden his allegiance to Nigeria. Despite representing England at every youth level up to U-19 while growing up, he committed his international future to Nigeria’s Super Eagles in 2009.After an impressive and memorable outing on his debut for the Super Eagles in a friendly against the Republic of Ireland on May 29, 2009, where he forced the Irish goalkeeper to save his 40-yard lobbed free kick and playing the first 61 minutes of the game, the former Hull City player went on to represent the country at the U-20 and U-23 levels.Now, he hopes to inspire Nigeria’s teeming youths in nurturing their careers through his pet project, the Ambassador’s Cup, a competition he jointly organises with Lagos side C.O.D United to discover and provide opportunities for nurturing young players to fulfil their dreams and aspirations through football.Sone AlukoAnd after helping Hull City gain promotion back to the EPL, Aluko left the club on the expiration of his contract, and decided to use part of the off-season to give back to young Lagos footballers.“Seeing these boys here, seeing their passion, seeing hope in their eyes, seeing expectations on their faces is the reason is why we do this,” Aluko told our correspondent inside the National Stadium.“I was once like these kids. All I had was passion, hope, belief and expectations.  Fortunately, I have been able to live my dreams of playing in the Premiership and playing international football. I consider it important to give back.“I used to play football all day, every day. I played at home, in school, at the park. At a point, my mother seized all my balls and I started kicking imaginary balls. Like these boys, I was absolutely crazy about football; I was completely in love with the game.”Right in the midst of the excited teenagers was a player who has played in the English Premier League; a player who had played at every level for England before switching allegiance to Nigeria and someone they watched on television score two goals for the Eagles in a 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match against South Africa in Uyo in December 2014.“I’m motivated to be part of the players involved in this competition. It’s a big honour to learn from a big player like Aluko and I hope to use what I have learnt here to advance my career,” one of the participating players said.But the player in front of these young footballers wasn’t the superstar they watched on TV playing for the Eagles or in the EPL; here before them was a player who embodied all they hoped to achieve in the game, someone who shared their dreams and was ready to help them accomplish it during the second edition of the Ambassador’s Cup.Aluko wants these kids to follow in the foot paths of great players like Cristiano Ronaldo, and he uses the Portuguese icon in passing his message across.“Ask anyone and they will tell you Ronaldo trains harder than anyone in his team. He is the first to arrive and last to leave training. This is a player who is one of the best ever already; someone who earned more money than any athlete in the world last year. But he still works as hard as anyone. That is the level you must aspire to,” he told the players“The game has become very competitive. Football clubs can buy players from all over the world now. Ability is fast becoming a commodity. Who wants it most is the most important thing now. That person has to be you if you want to make it. When I was younger, football was all I played. I completely dedicated my life to it. I was totally focused on my dream of playing in the Premiership and thank God I achieved it.“Ability is great but these days, discipline and hard work are just as important if not more important. Focus on your football. Be dedicated to it and God will match your commitment with favour.”C.O.D United Academy successfully defended their title at the Ambassador’s Cup final played at the Campos mini stadium in Lagos and went home with a cash prize of N100,000. The runners-up, Basic Football Academy, received N50,000 while the Most Valuable Player and highest goals scorer went home with N10,000 each.Aluko distributed specially made kits for each team and every player in the competition while  his guest at the final and Eagles teammate Victor Anichebe also gave out football boots, jerseys, gloves and cash prizes to spectators who answered some quiz questions.The CEO of C.O.D United, Shola Opaleye, said the competition was an attestation to the commitment of the club in providing the best opportunities for young talents to come through.He stated,“Our goal at C.O.D United is to impact lives. How better to impact lives than to get someone who has achieved in the game to come in and mentor the young players? Sone has interfaced and interacted with the boys. He has shared his story with them, shared his experiences, given them kits, spoken with them and even played with them.“He is totally committed to this and we are very happy he is on board with us as we continue to work to develop young boys and give them opportunities in life. It is a big commitment we know but even if only one boy makes it to the top from this pool, we have achieved our aim. We hope that many of them go on and achieve great things.”Interestingly, while he focused on educating only footballers last year, Aluko took his message of discipline and dedication beyond the pitch this time around.On the invitation of the Medical School, University of Lagos, the 27-year-old presented a lecture sharing his life experiences on how discipline played a huge part in his success.Aluko’s career began at Birmingham City in 1997 as an eight-year-old but he failed to make an appearance for the Blues’ senior side between 2007 and 2008. He was loaned out to Scottish side Aberdeen and then Blackpool before he joined Aberdeen fully in 2008.After three fruitful seasons at Pittodrie Stadium, he moved to giants Glasgow Rangers before he returned to English side Hull City four years ago.Combining sports and education is one big task for sportsmen and women in Nigeria but he gave insight on how he has been able to combine both, also using his sister, Eniola, who is a lawyer, despite playing over 100 times for England, as an example.It does appear a lecturing career could be one of the many options available to Aluko on his retirement from football. Then his message of discipline, dedication and hard work as the fundamentals of success would definitely attract many audiences.