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A group of around 20 players were put through their paces before playing an eight v eight as Smith and his coaching team, including Vitale Ferrante, assessed the wannabe Chance heroes.

“In this environment you’re in the game all the time whereas if you play 11 v 11 you can sometimes find yourself completely out of it – particularly with a group of strangers,” Smith told au.fourfourtwo.com.

“Small-sided games are much better to get an initial impression of a player."

At tonight’s trial, two players caught the eye of FourFourTwo Australia and may have also impressed Smith.

The Chance is a global talent search for unsigned young players. The event has already produced a bona fide Aussie star from the first Chance tournament.

Teen playmaker Tom Rogic from Canberra won through to represent this region in the global trials in London last year where 100 of the best talent from 42 countries gathered.

The Mariner impressed so much he was judged to be good enough to land one of the eight pro contracts at the Nike Academy in England.

He was soon wanted by newly promoted Reading after a series of games for the academy but returned to Australia to light up the A-League with the Mariners.

Technique is key to what Smith is looking for with the bumpy surface a test of the trialists' skills tonight.

Smith said that after the success of Nike’s first The Chance contest - which began in 2010 across Australia and New Zealand – the global talent search has become well-known amongst the young players.

“You talk about the Nike Chance and most people know what it is because it has such great promotion with the likes of 442 who kept people up to date on the whole event here and overseas with Tommy,” he said.

Spanish super-coach Pep Guardiola, Laurent Blanc, Sun Ji-hi and Marco Matterazzi are just some of the names who are helping discover talent around the world in this global talent search.

“It’s great for youngsters to have this chance,” Smith added.

For more trial information head to www.facebook.com/nikefootballau

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