Sports
Rivers Utd Confident Of Snatching Points From Pillars
Few days after walloping South Africa’s Bloemfontein Celtic 5-0 aggregate in the first round game of the 2021 CAF Confederations Cup competition to set up a continental clash with neighbours, Enyimba International, the Pride of Rivers, Rivers United FC is poised to continue its superlative run in the Nigeria Professional Football League, NPFL, today.
Rivers United is scheduled to tango with Kano Pillars at the Ahmadu Bello Stadium, Kaduna, today, in a potentially explosive league encounter. It promises to be an enthralling football extravaganza considering the antecedents of the host team and the current form of the visitors in the domestic league.
Going into the match, United’s current sensation and leading scorer, Godwin Aguda has expressed confidence that he and his team would celebrate at the end of the encounter. Speaking ahead of the game, Aguda said, “We know how important the game is for us because this season, we are meant to be at the top. We are placed second at the moment but we are going to give our all to make sure we come out victorious for us to return to the top of the league”.
He said that they know what is at stake and have resolved to target maximum points, despite the fact that the game would be a very difficult one. According to him, “ It’s going to be a tough game, Kano Pillars are a good side and one of the big teams in Nigeria, they have proven to be tough nuts to crack but I have confidence in my team mates that the result today will be in favour of Rivers United, we really know how important it is for us as a team and as individuals, the spirit is high because we are playing a good side and that same winning mentality we have cultivated would get the job done, by the grace of God”.
Aguda noted that playing the match in Kano Pillars’ adopted home of Kaduna would not affect how they would approach the match or influence the outcome since the venue could not be said to be a neutral ground because Pillars have been training and playing matches there.
He also said that he was not under any sort of pressure to continue performing but expressed optimism that he would continue to deliver.
A well-known football pundit in the State, Chief Christopher Okonkwo has lauded the efforts and vision of the Super Eagles Coach Eric Chelle for going from one venue of the Nigeria Domestic Nigeria Professional Football League match to the other in monitoring Nigerian players, with a view to invite some exceptional good one discovered into the main stream of the Super Eagles team.
Okonkwo, who made the commendation in an interview at the Port Harcourt Club recently, described the positive move by Coach Chelle as a good step in the right direction, noting that the practice was how its been done in the past among any contracted coach assigned to tinker the Super Eagles team.
“Truly, it has been an old tradition in the country seeing any newly engaged Coach to lead the National team, visiting some our Nigeria League venues during the league matches to spot light some good talents that could be used to beef up some grey areas in the department of Eagles team”
He, however, frowned at the current situation where our coaches had continously been over depending on the use of foreign based players during invitation of players to the National camp, thereby, relegating the domestic home based league players to the background as if they have nothing much to offer to the team.
“I can vividly recall that the likes of great players in the mode of Finidi George, Taribo West, Kanu Nwankwo, Austin Okocha, Richard Owobokiri, Emmanuel Osuigwe among others started from Nigeria football league before they graduated to play in Europe through which they later invited to Super Eagles camp to represent Nigeria”
“Besides, I’m also of the view that going to secondary school football competitive games could equally serves as a a good platform to discover budding talents that could be nurtured to become great stars in near future”, Okonkwo frankly added.
Okonkwo, therefore, prayed that any football coach to be engaged by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to tinker the Super Eagles should be told not to confine himself in staying in big hotel alone but to be visiting some of our local league match venues, with a view to discover some good players that can be drafted into the Super Eagles team.
“Indeed, I stand to be challenged that there some young good players in the Nigeria Professional League. If spotted and exposed, could give the some of the invited foreign based players a stiff competitive fight in securing a postion in the team”, Okonkwo emphatically stated.
Ezechukwu, one of the youngest members of the Nigerian contingent at the championship in Ghana, said her ambition was to win the 100m title in style and cap it with a new personal record.
The fresh secondary school graduate explained that she is fully focused on contributing to Team Nigeria’s medal hopes and is determined to deliver strong performances across her events.
“My main objective in Ghana is to clinch the 100m title and the 4×100m,” Ezechukwu told Tidesports source.
“Nigeria can be assured of my very best and my commitment to the Team. I would love to set a new personal best in Ghana, but anything that comes, I will take it. The spirit in the team is high, and I think we are ready to go,” she said.
Ezechukwu, who was part of Nigeria’s women’s 4x100m relay squad at the World Relays in Botswana, said the experience gained from that competition has strengthened her mindset heading into the continental championships.
She admitted that she learned valuable lessons from her previous outing, including a difficult moment during the relay where an early error affected the team’s rhythm, but said she has used the experience to improve her discipline and composure.
“The secret is just being disciplined, training hard and trusting my coach and believing in God, and the result will show,” she added.
The teenager is part of a 41-member Nigerian team comprising 24 female and 17 male athletes competing at the championships, which begin today at the University of Ghana, Legon.
Nigeria are expected to compete across multiple track and field events as they aim for a strong finish against the continent’s elite athletes.
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