First ever club from Myanmar: "Overwhelmed and at the same time excited"

Power Soccer Academy from the big city Yangon will be the first ever club from Myanmar in the history of Gothia Cup.

They're more than ready for their debut in the world’s largest youth football tournament this summer.
– It’s a privilege to be recognized as the first club participating from Myanmar. I’m overwhelmed and at the same time excited for the journey, says Albert Stages Kamara, founder and technical director at the academy.

Power Soccer Academy was founded in Yangon eleven years ago. Now they have around 900 members. They have produced players who have represented Myanmar's national team.
– Power Soccer Academy is an official training academy based in Myanmar. The academy was formed as a means to help young talents through playing football in exchange for education. The academy was officially formed on March 8th, 2013 and was later registered under the Myanmar Company act in 2014. We currently have three level of teams: U13, U15 and U18, says Albert Stages Kamara.

This summer, they will make their debut in Gothia Cup. They will create history as it is the first time that a club from Myanmar participate in the tournament.
– It is a privilege to be recognized as the first club participating from Myanmar. I’m overwhelmed and at the same time excited for the journey, but mostly thankful to Mr Dennis Andersson for giving us such an opportunity. My entire academy, parents and staff are grateful for this opportunity. Myanmar as a country has been through a lot. Gothia Cup will not only change the lives of our players but also leave a lasting memory for Myanmar.

He participated in Gothia Cup back in 2013.
– I attended with my academy and became the second runner up in Gothia Cup. And also in 1998–1999 when a club from my country of origin, Liberia, participated. For me, Gothia Cup is the biggest youth football platform globally, he says.
Power Soccer Academy tried to participate in 2020, but was stopped by the pandemic.
– To be honest, we were very disfasted and broken when covid-19 hit. We had a group of players who were ready to explore their talents to the world through Gothia Cup. It’s still sad, because many of the players we had at the time for covid-19 have all gone out from the academy, some of them have chosen different paths to life.

What do you think you can learn from this experience as a team?
– We hope to learn more, experience different cultures and most importantly build our footballing connections at Gothia Cup. We have watched a lot of the games from Gothia Cup 2023. I’m hopeful that we will be at our best and hopefully draw some attention to people and the tournament in general.

They will compete with three teams in the age categories B13, G18 and B18.
– We have a very talented B18 team and our hopes are to make sure some of these kids dreams come through in becoming a professional footballer, says Albert Stages Kamara.