the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Nike began advertising an intriguing concept called “The Chance”. As the name suggested it was an opportunity for unsigned players whose careers were yet to make a dent on professional football to “get noticed, get scouted and get signed”.

In short, Nike would pay for eight young unsigned footballers from around the world to take up a one-year professional contract at the English Premier League-backed Nike Academy. There the chosen players would experience world class facilities, train with elite coaches, have access to nutritionists, psychologists and fitness conditioners, as well as play matches against elite academies and EPL reserve teams.

Naturally, interest was piqued. So last year 75,000 unsigned lads with nothing but a dream began trialing in over 40 countries. The first stages were to impress the Nike scouts and coaches enough to make it through local, regional, then national selection. At that point, it got serious with the 75,000 whittled down to the best 100 players worldwide, including Australia and New Zealand.

It was then onto the final stage – a three-day trial in London with the 100 national winners in a global shootout to find the lucky eight.

Based just outside London at the rustic Sopwell House – once the Georgian country home of Lord Mountbatten – it would be a dream existence all thanks to Nike. They’d train at a professional base, with loads of football royalty dropping by to lend support.

There was no time to get nervous. Two full days of training under expert coaching tuition at Barnet FC’s training centre would cull the initial 100 down to 32. And on the third day those 32 would battle it out in a game situation to be named in the final eight.

With the coveted contracts on the line in London, could our four local boys make an impression? Would any even make the final 32? Or even, dare we dream, make the final eight? This is how the week unfolded…

Day One

Direct from our scorching Australian summer, FourFourTwo flies into the chilly English capital and through the morning traffic, arriving at a boutique hotel near Shepherd’s Bush tube station. Within an hour, we’ve met up with our four local ‘Chance’ lads who had checked-in 24 hours earlier.

Immediately we fix an interview and photo-shoot with Rogic. The likeable Canberra playmaker says it feels “surreal” being in London. We’ve seemingly brought a break in the chill with London turning on blue skies for our first morning. Is this a good omen? The four boys head into the West End to take their minds off the big day and shake off the jet-lag.

Rub-downs for the players are arranged later in the day with hotel masseur Nemanja – a brute of a man who looks like he could a play a similar role as his namesake at Old Trafford. Matic and Doyle take their chances with the big fella. Jokes about a dude giving a massage lighten the mood but on a serious note, injuries threaten to derail our boys’ week.

The worst knock belongs to Matic. His left knee is clearly a concern with the big man confiding he’s barely 50 per cent fit just two days out from day one of the trial. Blumgart, too, has a niggling hip problem, though it’s less of a concern, while Rogic isn’t so keen on being pummeled by Nemanja as the ACT-based Futsal star has a back injury.

So, after day one there’s plenty to ponder as our guys take it easy in their rooms and try to sleep. It’s all about recovery at this point.

Continued on next page...

Day Two

A morning photo-shoot at a car-park is briefly hijacked by a UK celeb. As she squeezes her generous frame past us on a car-park walkway, dead-pan UK comedienne Jo Brand asks with a chuckle if these lads in front of her "are a boy band?" Must be the hair...

A light kick-about at a park in Shepherd's Bush is next. Light the operative word with injuries still a worry. Back to the hotel for spas and saunas and a quick check on the midweek A-League results (Mariners fans' Matic and Rogic - who's been training with the Gosford club - are delighted with a win in Perth).

Time for lunch, then we go our separate ways. The players head off with their Nike chaperone Shelley to Sopwell House. They settle in to the lush country manor before that night's guests Rafael Van Der Vaart and Ghanaian powerhouse Michael Essien address the 100 'Chancers' (actually 99; one player from Ukraine wasn't able to secure a visa in time). The Dutchman says football is a lot about luck.

Meanwhile, the almost 90-strong world media assemble at a hotel near Watford. All is set for the kick-off to The Chance trials the following morning.


Day Three

Up early, the media are ferried to Sopwell House. Introductions and protocols explained, we're back on the coach heading for "The Hive" - Barnet FC's (the Bees? Geddit?) impressive training centre which has been co-opted by The Chance for the week.

The players are already out on the track knocking out some shooting drills as the cold morning air hits home. In the afternoon eight v eight games are another chance for the coaches to assess technical ability. It's not a bad time to turn it on, as Arsene Wenger and Guus Hiddink make an appearance.

The two coaching luminaries observe for a couple of hours and offer their views to the coaches. It's a huge moment for many of the lads - and the media - to just see these two greats (and a former Socceroo boss for whom we still have great affection).

That evening at Sopwell House, Premiership players front up for interviews (Nicklas Bendtner and Clint Dempsey to name just two). Amongst the media madness we catch our four lads in the hallway and although tired, they say they're happy with how day one went.

Later that night, the official scouting report reveals Rogic is one who has caught the eye. It's an encouraging start.

Day Four

We're back at the Hive on another icy morning and immediately it's good news. A super-human effort from Blumgart sees him triumph over his group in the unforgiving SPARQ testing (like a beep test). And Rogic wins a skills drill called 'Ronaldo'.

Nike Academy head coach Hugh Jennings briefs the media at lunchtime and assures FourFourTwo that the perception of English players coming through their development system is changing for the better. Jack Wilshire and Kieran Gibbs are evidence of a new ethos working its way through, he says.

The afternoon features more eight v eights, where Blumgart does a very good job of starring, while Matic - with a heavily bandaged left knee - battles through the pain. 

It's difficult for players from across the world who have been thrown together. A South Korean tries to communicate with a Brazilian; a Turk and a Frenchman strike up a defensive combination; and an Aussie and a Japanese link up for an attack. But they find a way. The standard is excellent.

The 100 players now have an agonising wait to find out who's made it to the final 32, the decision to be announced in a few hours at a fancy dinner at Wembley Stadium.

The media are herded back onto the coach. Driving along Wembley Way, it's the stuff of dreams. Seeing the stadium come into view, you experience what hundreds of footballers must have felt on seeing the iconic structure.

The press are given a tour of Wembley's dressing rooms, then Luis Figo arrives for a press conference. Figo interview done and dinner is served in Wembley's function room but no-one seems too interested. It's a nervous wait for all concerned.

In a stunning result for this part of the world, all four of our boys are named in the last 32. Seeing them brought up on-stage by Figo, you sense they'll never forget this moment - all unsigned hopefuls with a dream. Who would've believed it? Cameras flash, mics are thrust forward but the post-announcement excitement is over in a moment. All players are whisked away back to Sopwell House.

The final 32 only have a few hours to digest what's happened. They'll be woken at 6.30am the next day for their final test.

Continued on next page...

Day Five

It's a rainy and cold Saturday morning as the media are driven one hour to Milton Keynes and the final venue for The Chance: MK Dons' stadium. It's a brilliant arena with an almost perfect surface for the final test - an 11 v 11 game played over three 25 minute periods. The players are already out on the park warming up ahead of the 10am kick-off.

And it's the biggest media contingent these boys will have seen as we jostle at the tunnel to get a shot of the players as they're lead out by former Premiership whistle blower (and Jimmy Somerville lookalike) Dermot Gallagher.

Again our local boys catch the eye, with Rogic bossing the midfield in a free role in front of Blumgart. On the opposition side Doyle is at his favoured left-back in front of Matic who continues to brave his dodgy knee. The result isn't important - it's all about how the players perform. The game is played at a lightning pace with some tasty tackles flying in. This means a lot to these lads, no doubt about that.

We grab Gallagher in the referee's bunker later and he confides Matic may have been close to a red card. But he was impressed by the talent on show at the event. The coaches, however, are staying very tightlipped indeed, with Jennings saying only that the decision
will be difficult.

With the game over, players and media are driven to North London's Emirates Stadium to see a side called Arsenal ease past Wigan 3-0 (some guy called Van Persie bags a hat-trick). Meantime the Socceroos squeak past Iraq at the Asian Cup. Is that another good omen?

It's now Saturday night and decision time. The media are back at Sopwell House for the big announcement as all 100 players - and that includes those who didn't even make the 32 - are in attendance for a final dinner.

Dutch star Giovanni Van Bronckhorst addresses the media before speaking with the players at a separate dinner. The tension ramps up. The media are put in a separate room but we are given a live feed of Jennings announcing the winners.

Tension is unbearable - one can only imagine what is going on in the heads of the players.  The first name is read out. It's French. Then two South Africans, Belgian, South Korean and two more English names are announced as the media from those respective parts of the world punch the air with joy.

Seven names down - one to go.  Have we missed out? "The last player is a young man who's shown tremendous skill ...." pronounces Jennings. "He's from Australia and his name is Tom Rogic". FourFourTwo springs out of our seat like a striker at the back post. We did it!

A quick twitter of the news and we're herded into a room for some extremely excited post-announcement interviews. Rogic is stunned.

"I guess I'm moving to England," he says with a huge smile. As we leave we grab coach Paul Hart for a quick yarn. Harry Kewell's former youth team coach at Leeds says Blumgart came close but Rogic had been brilliant from day one and "like many Aussies, [was] low maintenance".

The coach (the four wheeled variety, that is) is leaving. As we rush out I bump into a downcast Blumgart. It's tough for him. However the bigger story here is that our corner of the world saw four players make the final 32 and one into the last eight. We beat Brazilians, Argentines and a host of Europeans.

It's a final coach ride through the frozen London streets as we begin writing and editing stories and pictures. Eight hours later and with little sleep I'm in a cab bound for Heathrow ahead of a flight back to Australia.

Our boys did themselves very proud. They did our region proud. And it was a week they will never forget.

This article appeared in the April 2011 issue of Australian FourFourTwo magazine. To buy back copies of this issue call 03-8317-8121 with a credit card to hand.