Sports
Ezeji Testimonial: Battle For Shirts Delays Final Players’ List
A battle for shirts to play
the prestigious Victor Ezeji Testimonial, VET Match delayed the release of the final shortlist of players for the event.
However, late on Monday, the final shortlist of players to feature in the game was made available to Victor Ezeji Testimonial, VET Media.
On the Team Ezeji side, top names like Makpor Dibofun who was top scorer at Sharks in the 90s, Imama Amapakabor, who captained Sharks in Victor Ezeji’s debut season and Ahmed Abdulrahaman will feature.
Abdulrahman played for Dolphins for 14 years from 1991 to 2005 and is now secretary of Rivers United.
Former Flying Eagles captain, Abubakar Musa, Mbwas Mangut who played for Sharks and Heartland as well as Iyenemi Furo who played for Sharks in the 90s and the Super Eagles at the AFCON 2000 are in the list for the Team Ezeji side.
Member of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Kelechi Nwogu and camp commandant at the Rivers State Government House, London Owen Irifeke will also feature for Team Ezeji.
For the Team NPFL, there are no star names because they are all star players.
Mobi Oparaku of the Atlanta 96 fame, Sam Ledor who played for Sharks and Enugu Rangers, Dondo Avaa who was at Jasper United in the 90s as well as Kennedy Okogba who was with Sharks and Iwuanyanwu Nationale will feature on the Team NPFL side.
Others in the Team NPFL are Shehu Dikko, Albert Chinwo, Alari George (elder brother of Finidi George) who played at Sharks in the 90s.
Joseph Cole, Sam Sodje and Bode Babington are also in line to play for Team NPFL.
Chairman of the Main Organising Committee, China Acheru revealed to VET media that it took some time to get this list together as a lot of players wanted to be involved.
“When you play in the League for twenty seasons, you will surely have made lots of friends and that was how difficult it was for Victor (Ezeji) to get his list together.
“It took some chopping and changing also as some other people pulled out when the schedule changed from December ten to seventeen and then January 7 but finally we have a list of people to play the game and we believe they will all be in Port Harcourt for the event,” Acheru said.
“A player like Sudan based Kelechi Osunwa previously signed up to play but the schedule changed he was forced to pull out of the event,” Acheru said.
Former Super Eagles defender and coach, Austin Eguavoen and Stanley Eguma of Rivers United will coach the Team NPFL while Alphonsus Dike and Joseph “Zico” Egbu will coach the Team Ezeji.
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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