At the mention of his name as the winner of the maiden edition of the Rexona Be Next Champion campaign, he went down on his knees and offered thanksgiving prayers to God and with tears strolling down his face he was carried shoulder high by his mates and family members to the podium where he received his prize.
Prior to being declared the victor of the competition that had over 700 hundred footballers turning up for selection, a member of the coaching team from Chelsea who supervised the exercise described him as a leader and team player and he exemplified that by walking to the other contestants to congratulate them.
Shedrack Adombila, an indigene of the Upper East Regional capital of Bolgantaga who had to borrow money from a relative to foot his transportation bills from Bolgatanga to Accra for the finals of the competition will now have the privilege of being part of the African team that will play the Chelsea legends at the Stamford Bridge.
Describing his story as that of dust to grass and one which will definitely end in grace, the 18-year-old defensive midfielder who models his game after that of Chelsea legend Michael Essien expressed gratitude to his mother, coach, Laryea Kingston and Unilever Ghana for making his dream of travelling to Stamford Bridge a reality.
The thought of him visiting Stamford Bridge and seeing the likes of Eden Hazard, N’golo Kante, Willian and the other Chelsea stars “face-to-face” excites the man who is known as the “Bolgatanga Poncho” and he was full of praise for Unilever for the opportunity.
“God has been so good to me and awarded me with this (his golden boot) and I’m going to Chelsea to meet Hazard, Willian, Kante. The only thing I can do now is to thank the Almighty God who has made it possible. I also want to thank my family, my coach and most especially to Unilever for this honour”, he said.
Speaking at the event, the Brand Manager of Rexona, Ms Vanessa Kavi congratulated the winners for their outstanding performance and encouraged them not to sleep on their laurels. She wished the other contestants the best of luck in their search for a career breakthrough.
“These two young footballers are going to benefit from the ultimate football experience and we at Unilever Ghana and Rexona are happy to have made it possible through our partnership with Chelsea FC. (To the other contestants) You fought a good fight but we have only two slots on the Africa 11 team, better luck next time”, Ms Kavi said.
The initial aim of the campaign was to pick only one of the 26 finalists to join the Africa 11 but the Chelsea coaching team of Steven O’reilly, Laurence Griffin and Freddie Myers who were blown out by the rich talent they saw decided to give Ghana another slot and Alex Agyarkwa from the Eastern Region got selected
The two footballers will join the Africa 11 team for the ultimate football experience of training and playing against the Chelsea legends later this year.
