Sports
Nigeria Targets Milo Football Tourney Title
The country’s representa
tives in the 3rd edition of the Nestle Milo African U-13 Football Championship have completed the first phase of closed camping at the Kwara State Football Academy, Ilorin.
The head coach of the team, Paul Odey, told newsmen in Lagos that the players were now ready for the tournament.
St. Barnabas LGEA of Ilorin won the national U-13 championship and will represent Nigeria at the tournament to be hosted in Lagos at the Campos Square Sports Centre.
South Africa, Ghana and Kenya are the other countries that will take part in the championship scheduled to hold from May 29 to 31.
“We have completed the camping exercise which was scheduled to last two weeks and the boys have been primed to face any opposition at their level.
“The important thing is that they responded very well to the drills we put them through and this can be seen in the number of friendly matches they played and won,” Odey said .
The coach expressed satisfaction with the depth of strength the boys have built up, saying that “we put them through three hours of football daily.
“It is significant that they played at the same strength and in fact, stronger in the second friendly match they played and winning both games”.
He said though the Ilorin camping programme had been completed, he would be working with the boys daily until they were called for the final closed camping.
“We just have to keep up with the boys so that they don’t lose the stamina gained during the period they were in camp.
“We will keep a close tab on them in the period they will be out of closed camping.
“The Nigerian squad is expected to undergo another camping exercise at the International Football Academy in Wasimi, Ogun State,’’ he said.
The biennial football event was first hosted by South Africa in 2010 and saw Nigeria’s representative Ashegun School, Oyo State lifting the trophy.
In 2012, Ghana hosted and won, while Nigeria was represented by St. Stephens School, Lagos.
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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