The Switzerland boss is seeking out undiscovered talent in Nigeria ahead of Copa Lagos.
Ahead of the upcoming Copa Lagos 2017 in December, a number of Nigerians have been given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to feature at the competition thanks to a unique trial process involving esteemed beach soccer coach Angelo Schirinzi.
The event takes place between December 8th and 10th and will see the hosts face the Netherlands, Spain and Lebanon while there will also be a club competition featuring international teams as well as two sides representing Lagos, one of which will be coached and trained by Schirinzi.
And Schirinzi, who has led the national teams of Switzerland, Tahiti and The Bahamas in recent years, has spent the last couple of weeks assessing more than 350 players from six areas of the city in the hope of finding some of its undiscovered beach soccer talent.
After a number of trials around the city, 23 players are into the penultimate stage, which will then be cut to 12, who will be involved in a fortnight’s training camp prior to the competition where they will take on their international opponents in front of a packed stadium with the world watching.
Former Switzerland international Schirinzi, who has coached and played alongside some of the best players our sport has seen, was impressed by the level of talent on show and believes his team could cause a shock or two at the competition.
“The level has been really high and I have to say it’s been a really great project to be involved in,” he told Beach Soccer Worldwide.
“Some of the guys have been more used to football and we’ve had to teach them a little bit about playing barefoot but others are very into beach soccer and know the rules already so it’s a bit of a mix.
“We have some tough opponents to play against and we can’t work miracles in such a short time but we’ll look forward to it and try to surprise some people.”
