Kwesi Mugisa, Staff Reporter

Legendary footballer John Barnes demonstrates passing with the side-foot during a session with the national Under-20 team at the Digicel Kick Start Football Clinic, at Barbican playfield yesterday. - Ian Allen/Staff Photographer

Hoping to fulfil their dreams of earning a tryout with an English Premier League team, several eager youngsters will look to prove their worth under the watchful eyes of former Liverpool and England great John Barnes when the Digicel Kick Start camp comes to a close at 3:00 p.m. today with a match between a select national Under-21 team and Premier League outfit Seba United at the Barbican field.

The clinic, launched by Digicel in Guyana in early January, is now in its seventh week and has already been to Suriname, Barbados, Haiti, Antigua, St Kitts, and Trinidad and Tobago.

When the camp comes to a close today, Barnes, the programme's head coach, is expected to select six players for a weeklong trial stint with English Premier League team Sunderland.

The best six

Barnes, the Jamaican-born former England international, has made it clear that he will be looking for the six best players, whether they be all from one country or distributed throughout the region, so players will be encouraged to put their best boot forward.

It is, however, unlikely that all six players will come from one place, as Barnes has admitted to being generally impressed with the talent on display. The former player, who has 79 caps and 12 goals for England, however, made it clear that it will take more than craft and tricks to earn a spot.

"I'll say it again, and I told the guys in Africa, if you can beat five or six players, well that will impress me, but that certainly won't guarantee that you get selected, because it takes a lot more than that to make it professionally," he said.

"It takes a lot of discipline, teamwork and a willingness to work hard and those will be some of the things that I will be looking for."