The Most Valuable Player, MVP, for the 2019 NPFL/LaLiga U15 Promises, Peter Joel is back in the country following the completion of his LaLiga training in Spain.
Joel was named tournament MVP after helping his Delta Force FC team to third place in the competition earlier this year.
He travelled to Malaga, Spain, where he spent time and trained with the Malaga CF youth team last month.
As part of the trip, the talented Joel was able to enjoy very closely the Malaguista team and toured the La Rosaleda stadium and the city of Malaga.
Speaking on his experience, the elated Joel cannot wait to wear the Malaga shirt and become a legend at the club.
“It has been my desire to play in Europe and it was a dream come true to have this experience, ” he said.
“I enjoyed exploring the beautiful city of Malaga and since I returned, my wish is to become a legend of Malaga CF.”
He added;
“Although I spent a short time with the team, I learnt a lot and developed my skills especially in terms of my tactical and positional play.”
Joel’s journey to Spain is the first time an NPFL U15 player has ever visited the home of LaLiga, which reinforces LaLiga’s commitment to helping the NPFL develop grassroots and juvenile football in the country.
LaLiga representative in Nigeria, Guillermo Perez Castello used the opportunity to thank Malaga for giving Joel to chance to further his football education.
“We want to thank Malaga for giving Peter the opportunity to nurture and develop his talent. We hope that this platform continues to enable as well as encourage other upcoming youngsters across the world to pursue their football dreams.”
Commenting on behalf of the Nigerian League, Shehu Dikko, Chairman of the League Management Company, LMC, added;
“We are excited about the opportunities this tournament is creating for young players like Peter, (and) we are committed to developing football from the grassroots as we believe this has a great impact on football development in the country.”
“We’d like to thank our partners, LaLiga who have been supporting us on this project since its inception two years ago.”
The NPFL/LaLiga U15 Promises Tournament, which was modelled after the LaLiga Promises tournament in Spain, was created to properly develop young talents using the LaLiga methodology and to encourage NPFL Clubs to set up and maintain youth structures.
Since its inception in 2017, the tournament has seen over 900 players participate and has also presented the opportunity for over 200 youth coaches to be professionally trained.
