The Japan Times - African football has the platform for historic World Cup success

Morocco's surprise run to the 2022 World Cup semi-finals sparked hopes that such a moment is not far off.

Benjamin Balkin, though, thinks Eyeball, the digital platform he co-founded in 2020, could be the determining factor in ensuring that happens as it provides a shop window for talent which would previously have been missed.

Balkin cheerfully describes himself as a "failed footballer" having played in the academy of French club Monaco but was told he would fall short in the senior ranks.

As a Monaco ballboy, Balkin marvelled at the skills of Ivory Coast superstar Yaya Toure and Togo's Emmanuel Adebayor.

It was the spark that lit the fuse and has years later resulted in Eyeball investing in an Under-19 championship for Senegalese academies, United Future League, in Senegal.

That is one part of their investment as they also provide video cameras to 5,000 youth coaches globally, who film training sessions and add tags to individual players which are then placed on the platform.

High-profile clubs like German champions Bayer Leverkusen and Chelsea can access the footage.

It costs clubs just 92 euros ($97) a day to be able to scout 30,000 players across Africa.

Balkin, born in France to Danish parents, says by moving abroad the players grow in every sense which ultimately benefits their national sides.

"Those players leaving African academies and going to European or American academies, their football understanding skills, IQ will improve, because of just a better level of training, better infrastructure," Balkin told AFP from Copenhagen.

"When those players come back and play for the national team, the national teams will also benefit from that and perform probably at a better level.

"So maybe if we speak again in 10 years, we'll have an African nation that has won the World Cup, that wouldn't be surprising."

- 'Much more transparent' -

Balkin's friend and now colleague Oliver Durr Dehnhardt experienced how difficult it was to acquire African talent when he was a scout at Dutch giants Ajax.

"We made a partnership with Cape Town FC in South Africa for a few years," he told AFP.

"It didn't work out. We got one player out of it and it was still too messy.

"So in the end, before Eyeball, the idea in Africa was, let's wait until they come to Europe and then we just need to accept that we will have to pay 10, 15, 20 million euros for them."

The 30-year-old Dane said that picture was transformed when Eyeball, who say they are the only players in this market, came on the scene.

"In my later stage at Ajax, we were starting to look actively in Africa because Eyeball enabled that for us," he said.

"With the United Future League, they actually built the structure that was missing and gave us the opportunity to see the players a year, year-and-a-half before they made their senior debut.

"So all of a sudden, we were able to replicate the process that we have in Europe to Africa."

In years gone by there have been plentiful stories of young talent brought to Europe by unscrupulous agents and when they fail to make it are left to fend for themselves, often condemned to sleeping on the streets.

Balkin, 26, believes such behaviour is now "outdated" but Eyeball provides a safety net.

"It certainly made things much more transparent," he said.

"That's the biggest thing. So throughout the system, you're actually able to get correct information on players.

"So first of all, like, when are they born? What is the nationality?

"Clubs and scouts are able to reach out directly to other clubs down there in Africa without having to go through intermediaries."

Balkin highlights the story of 19-year-old Assane Ouedraogo, who through the platform earned a move from his Ivory Coast club San Pedro to Charlotte in the MLS, although he is currently on loan at MLS Next Pro side Crown Legacy FC.

"With the sign-on bonus, he was able to buy a house for his parents."

K.Nakajima--JT