Vietexplorer2024

The unexpected success of Morocco in reaching the 2022 World Cup semi-finals has sparked a wave of optimism across the continent, with many believing that an African nation lifting the trophy is no longer a distant dream. Benjamin Balkin, co-founder of Eyeball, a digital platform launched in 2020, shares this sentiment and believes that his platform could be a pivotal factor in making this a reality. Describing himself light-heartedly as a “failed footballer,” Balkin’s own experiences as a youth player at Monaco, where he rubbed shoulders with the likes of Yaya Toure and Emmanuel Adebayor, fueled his passion for creating a platform that showcases talent that might otherwise be overlooked. This passion led to Eyeball’s investment in the United Future League, an Under-19 championship for Senegalese academies, as well as providing video cameras to 5,000 youth coaches worldwide. The coaches film training sessions and tag individual players, with the footage then uploaded to the platform....