Sports
Enyimba Seeks Redemption In Federation Cup
Deposed Nigeria champi
ons Enyimba hope they beat Nasarawa United in tomorrow’s Federation Cup semi-final on their way to eventual cup glory to make up for a rather difficult season.
Having edged Rivers United in a largely one-sided quarterfinal, Lafia-based Nasarawa United stand in the way of a sixth Federation Cup final in eight seasons.
“The game is very important to us,” Aliyu told the Enyimba website. “Like everyone knows, we did not get a good position in the league and in the Champions League we did not do very well also, so this is our remaining opportunity to go back to the continent.
“Enyimba play on the continent every year, so we have to put in everything to make sure we get to the final and win it.”
A place in next year’s CAF Confederation Cup awaits the Federation Cup winners and following the club’s worst league finish in over a decade, it presents Enyimba’s only route to playing international football next season.
Signed from FC Taraba in 2012, 26-year-old midfielder Aliyu described the just concluded League season as disappointing and blamed playing away from the Aba stadium.
“For me, this is a season to forget because we did not do well. But I think it would have been different If we played in Aba. It’s not an easy thing – the stadium issue, but we have to take it in good faith, play very hard and get back to the continent through the FA Cup,” he said.
The quality of Saturday’s opposition is not lost on the lanky midfielder, who believes they are in for a tough game in Ibadan, but assured Enyimba are eager to make it to the final.
“Nasarawa United are not a bad side at all, they are good too. They have good midfielders and strikers. The likes of our former player, Abdulrahman Bashir and Esosa Igbinoba. They have a good team but we have to put in everything to get the result we need,” he said.
“It will be a tough game but in football you have to put in your best if you want to win.
“We want to end the season on a high starting from Saturday. Our eyes are on the final and if we keep our heads up and stay focused, we will be victorious.”
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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