Nike Football: The Chance Announces 3 Winners - Football News

The top three players from Nike’s The Chance Final have been announced as the global tour drew to a close; after a six week journey that has seen the 16 finalists experience professional football and elite training at the very highest level.

Marco Di Lauro from Italy, Kevin Salazar from Colombia and Gonzalo Balbi from Spain have been awarded well-deserved places in the Nike Academy, a full-time player academy based in England and supported by the FA Premier League, until the end of the season.

On the selection of the top three young footballers, Head Coach of Nike's The Chance global tour and Nike Academy Director of Football Jimmy Gilligan, said: “The global tour has afforded these 16 finalists the footballing opportunity of a lifetime. The commitment from the squad has been relentless and the standard of football highly impressive.

“Each of the finalists have given everything they have during their time with us at Nike’s The Chance, and each one can hold their head up high and know that they did themselves proud. It has been a pleasure to work with all of them and I wish each one of them every success for the future – I am sure this won’t be the end of their journey. I look forward to welcoming and working with Marco, Kevin and Gonzalo at the Nike Academy – as they continue to develop and take their chance to get noticed at the highest level.”





The players kicked off their global tour in January at Nike’s World Headquarters in Oregon, U.S. The next stop was US Soccer in Los Angeles, before the tour continued onto Europe; first stop Juventus Football Club in Turin. After Italy, the group headed to Manchester United, England, for a week of training and football culture immersion at the club’s Carrington training facility.

The final stop of the tour saw the 16 young footballers visit England’s National Football Centre at St George’s Park. Nike’s partnership with the FA granted the squad with unrestricted access to the world-class football facility and saw the players receive an intensive elite-level coaching session from Head Coach of England U-21s Stuart Pearce and England Manager Roy Hodgson.

Throughout the tour the 16 finalists benefited from an extended team of elite coaches, nutritionists and fitness conditioners throughout the tour, to ensure they arrived at each training session and fixture focused and in peak condition. Let us know your thoughts on Nike Football's The Chance, and are you hoping it returns for another year? Join the conversation online, on Twitter and on Facebook.