‘Gregory’s Girl’ Aisha wins a place at football tournament with AC Milan

Lenzie footballer Aisha Saini was singled out as a rising star during a Football Summer Academy, run by AC Milan, at the La Manga Resort in Spain during her holidays.

The club organises football camps, involving hundreds of players, in several European countries throughout the summer, but unbeknown to Aisha, they use the camps to chose the top 10 players from each country to play at an all-expenses-paid festival in October.

Aisha, a former pupil of Millersneuk Primary, explained: “I didn’t know the coaches were watching me until they told us about the tournament after the final training session.

“I was so excited when they announced they’d chosen me.

“They’ve told me that we’ll be going as guests of AC Milan to a Serie A game before we play the tournament.”

As she was chosen at a camp in La Manga, Aisha will be representing Spain.

It is understood she is the first girl ever selected for the tournament.

She said: “It feels weird to know I’ll be representing Spain, not Scotland, but my favourite team is Barcelona so I hope I play well!”

Milan’s head coach at the academy, Daniele Paccagnan, said: “Aisha was one of the youngest in her age group of 10-12-year-olds, but we were amazed how strong she was. More importantly, she has excellent control and technique, and her attitude during practice was fantastic.

“I think she is the first girl we have ever selected for this tournament, but I know she will represent the AC Milan Spanish Academy very well when she comes to Italy in October.”

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