Sports
Wolves Target Continental Ticket
Warri Wolves FC has
said it was in a good position to pick a continental ticket this season if it could win its three outstanding matches in the 2012/2013 Globacom Premier League .
Captain of the club, Azubuike Egwuekwe, told newsmen in Warri that the team had resolved to remain committed to winning its three outstanding matches in the league.
“The club has resolved to secure maximum points in our three remaining matches and we are ready to give our best,’’ he said.
The captain explained that if his team could win their two home games and secure at least a draw in their away match, they would finish in the second or third position.
“This will earn us an automatic continental ticket,’’ he said.
Egwuekwe added that Warri Wolves were currently sixth with 52 points on the log, from 35 matches.
“Kano Pillars with 60 points,came first, Bayelsa United with 58 points, made second and Enyimba with 57 points came third on the log,’’ he added.
Warri Wolves last three games are with Akwa United at home, an away game against Shooting Stars Sports Club (3SC) of Ibadan and another home game against ABS FC of Kwara.
He revealed that the players had been motivated in all aspects by the board to achieve the desired objectives.
“We, the players are mentally and psychologically prepared for the upcoming games and have vowed to win the remaining three matches,’’ he said.
He recalled that losing to Enyimba in the Federation Cup was a very bitter pill to swallow, adding that his team lost the encounter due to loss of concentration.
“I was sad as the captain of the team, because I felt I let my team down after missing a crucial penalty which cost us the game,’’ he said.
Warri Wolves lost 4-5 on penalties to Enyimba FC of Aba after the game had ended 2-2 in the final of the 2013 edition of the Federation Cup on September 15 in Lagos.
Egwuekwe, who is also a player with the Super Eagles team for the qualifier in Ethiopia, was very positive of a favourable result in Addis Ababa.
“We have been training very hard for this encounter and everybody is ready for the battle in Ethiopia. By the grace of God, we are going to be victorious,’’ he added.
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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