“Football Dreams is a big thing in Cameroon,” said Jiji, who has four sisters and three brothers. He described how he cried when his father told him that he had gotten the call that he made it.

Another boy, Jalilu Haruna Mola, a 14-year-old from Ghana, explained how his father died when he was 5, leaving him behind with his mother and older brother. His mother sells rice for a living, Jalilu said, and his scholarship has allowed her to pay for his older brother’s university education. “She always tells me she’s proud of me,” Jalilu said.

The Football Dreams teams have won several international contests. But with this success has come tension. Scouts coveted some of the Aspire boys for their own development clubs in Europe, and in 2011, several players split from Aspire to pursue soccer opportunities elsewhere.

Aspire executives were displeased by the departures. “They didn’t want us to talk to other agents, they definitely did not,” said Tchoutou, who now plays for A.S. Roma’s top youth team. But after three years, he decided to leave with their approval or not.

According to one scholarship agreement, the boys pledge not to sign any contract without the written authorization of Aspire. Of the few boys who have left the program, Bleicher said agents approached them secretly and made promises.

“Even though we were not happy with the hidden approach by the agents, in each case we allowed them to leave unconditionally,” Bleicher said, emphasizing that only a few boys have left the program. “If someone doesn’t want to stay, it’s better that he leaves.”

Only the best Football Dreams players get to take the next step and play for the Aspire-owned team in Belgium. The pressure of that was palpable in the final game of the Al Kass Cup. When the Football Dreams boys won in a dramatic shootout, they charged across the field in celebration, lifting their coaches and executives, including Colomer, into the air.