Sports
Go Round FC Set For New NNL Season
Twenty five players of Go Round FC are currently preparing for the start of the Nigeria National League, NNL season.
The fixtures pit Go Round FC against Akujiobi FC in the first game in Omoku but latest reports seem to suggest that Osun United will be playing in place of Akujiobi.
Go Round FC will have clubs like Shooting Stars, Vandrezzer FC, Delta Force and Calabar Rovers to contend with if its dreams of returning to the top flight NPFL can be achieved at the end of this season.
Coach of the side, Abiye Iyalla, is optimistic that with the players at his disposal, the team will put up a good fight.
“It is a league and we are here for the fight. Football is not about names but about what you do on the pitch, so I am optimistic that we have done enough to fight for promotion and get it,” Iyalla said.
Meanwhile, as part of requirements by the Nigerian government, through the National Council for Disease Control, NCDC, players and officials of Go Round FC were at the Port Harcourt centre to undergo testing for COVID-19.
All twenty five players in the team as well as coaches, back room staff and other officials took part in the testing.
The team is currently in Ughelli to play a pre-season tournament tagged, “The Ughelli pre-season Cup.”
In the first match of the tournament played on Sunday, Go Round FC beat Excellence FC 2-0, a brace coming in from Wohuruche Victory.
In Tuesday morning’s game, it was Go Round FC beating Godspenal FC 1-0. Emeka Emmanuel scored the goal.
The team will return to Omoku after the Ughelli pre-season tournament to continue their preparation for the league.
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.
-
Rivers17 hours ago
MBA Forex Trial Adjourn To June 3, Amid Bereavement … As Court Declines Cost Application
-
Featured12 hours agoWASSCE: RSG Distributes Science Materials To Secondary Schools
-
Aviation17 hours ago
Passengers Stranded As Delta Airline From Atlanta Route Back Eight Hours After
-
Business17 hours ago
Customs Impound N2.35bn Cocaine, 15 Trailers of Rice
-
Nation5 days agoEducation Commissioner Seeks media Collaboration In Rivers
-
Nation5 days agoRSUBE Holds Training For 1,000 New Teachers To Strengthen Basic Education
-
Politics17 hours ago
2027: Bayelsa Senator Gets Critical Endorsement For Second Term
-
News17 hours ago
ActionAid Demands Probe Of Govs Using Public Funds For Campaign