Bendtner & Gibbs Interviews - The Chance

Bendtner & Gibbs Interviews - The Chance

Nicklas Bendtner and Kieran Gibbs passed on their advice to young footballers taking part in Nike s The Chance , whilst doing so, the Premier League stars also had time to give exclusive interviews to the SoccerBible...

Nike's 'The Chance' competition has now reached its final stage, with one hundred of the world s best young football players are competing in London with eight spaces up for grabs at the Nike Academy. Arsenal pair Bendtner and Gibbs joined team-mates to encourage the young footballers, as well as spending time with SoccerBible.com to talk about The Chance and let us in on who is the best at FIFA and table tennis at the Emirates!

SB: What s the best advice you can give to the final 100 contestants in Nike s The Chance ? NB: Work hard and put all your effort in and the rest will follow. Lots of people have a lot of talent but don t want to put in the work. They don t get anywhere. A lot of players with less talent seem to put in the effort and make it. If you can combine both talent and hard work you are lucky!

SB: You ve worn some memorable boots in the past - including the Mercurial Vapor Rosa! What do you think of the new range from Nike?

NB: I think the latest Nike boots are cool! I like to wear different boots all the time. The new designs are great.

I would like to try some white Nike boots next time to match the colour of our shirt sleeves.

SB: Who is the joker in the dressing room at Arsenal?

NB: I think we all make jokes, but Eboue is probably the funniest guy I ve ever met! He doesn t have to say anything - he s just funny!

SB: What are your ambitions this season? NB: We are taking this season one step at a time. We always try to win each game. We are in the Semi-Final of the League Cup and have a chance to win that. We hope to win a trophy and then maybe another trophy will follow. SB: Why does Arsene Wenger have such a great record with bringing through young players? K The manager has an eye for a player - he knows what he is looking for. He has a philosophy that he believes in. No matter what game we are facing, he sticks to his beliefs. He has done that for his whole career. He spends a lot of time with young players one-on-one which helps them to develop.

This happens more in pre-season when there s a lot of time. But even when we ve got a lot of games on during the season he works with the players as a team and individuals.

SB: Which of your team mates has been a good role model to you?

K I would say our captain Cesc Fabregas. He is a prime example of a young player that was given a chance at a young age and has taken it with both hands. SB: What do you do with your team mates to relax when you re not playing football? K We play FIFA on Playstation at the team hotel on the night before matches. We are in hotels every three days or so, so we

play quite a lot. The best player is Theo Walcott, but only because he plays it so much! He s the one to beat.

We have a table tennis table at the training ground which we use a lot in the summer in between morning and afternoon pre-season training sessions. Robin Van Persie is the best.

There's no doubt that Nike's competition to give global players the chance to realise their dreams has received great endorsement from the pro's, and you can follow all the action from 'The Chance' Finals, including more exclusive interviews and videos on the SoccerBible.