Lagos- Modupe Thanni, Head, Events and Sponsorships Etisalat Nigeria, on Saturday extolled the talents displayed at the 2015 Etisalat U-15 Soccer Challenge that ended with Government Secondary School, Imo emerging as overall winners.
“These boys have displayed exceptionally and we are glad that the Etisalat U-15 will continue to help discover budding talents in football.
“And we can declare unequivocally that, we can feed the Nigeria’s U-15 team with some of these boys,’’ Thani said.
Over 37 schools across the country took part in this year’s competition with eight regional teams playing in two groups in the National finals.
The final match played at the Campos Square in Lagos, saw Government Secondary School, Owerri, Imo defeating Government Model Bida, Niger, 4-2 to emerge the champions of the competition in its second edition.
Nnamdi Tochukwu of the Imo State School drew the first blood by scoring the opening goal in the fifth minutes of the match.
A resolute Niger team came fighting and got a deserved equalizer in the 10th minutes of the second half through Yaya Abba which gave the team some ray of hope of doing well.
The game dragged to the end of an entertaining battle where both teams tried earnestly to have the much needed breakthrough.
However, a solo move from Anderson Amoragaegba dribbling through Niger’s hard solid defence and scoring Imo’s second goal brought the necessary confidence to the team.
Amoraegba would seize another golden opportunity when he received a connecting pass from his fellow right winger to net the third goal of the match and leaving the Niger team looking helpless.
Ewreji Uchenna of the Imo further compounded the Niger boys’ woes when he nodded in from a connecting corner kick that ensured the championship cup was going to Imoe.
Musa Abdulahi’s effort when he looped the ball over Imo’s goal keeper to score for Niger could do little as the goal came in at the dying moments of the game.
An elated Coach Ekezie Obinna of the Imo team told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the sidelines of the match that his boys had kept their cool and perfected what they were instructed to do on the field.
“I am happy about our victory; my boys played with good determination and courage to get to this stage and won the championship.
“It’s a great thing for our school and for the state I want to really thank the Etisalat company for sponsoring this competition,” Obinna said.
Imo captain, Ebuka Amadichukwut told NAN that he was delighted about the opportunity to play for his school and for emerging the champions of the tournament.
Meanwhile, Coach Shafeez Mohammed of the Niger team said that regardless of the loss, his boys had given a good account of themselves in the final of the competition.
“I felt sad for not winning the cup, but I am happy for reaching the final of the competition. We had just eight players for the competition having lost others through the screening process.
“If we had a full team I would had options to make the necessary changes and the eventual outcome of the match. However, I am proud of my players because they gave their best,” Mohammed said.
NAN reports that the Imo team went home with the championship trophy and the sum of N2 million for their efforts.
Meanwhile, Tochukwu Nnamdi of the Imo team went home with the most Valuable Player Award.
In the second position, Niger went home with silver medals and the sum of N1 million.
Winners College Akure defeated Washington Memorial Government Secondary School; Anambra 13-12 in penalty shootout after the match had ended 2-2 in regulation time.
The boys from Akure went home with the bronze medals/trophy and the sum of N750, 000.
Mallam Ibrahim Mohammed, President Nigeria School Sports Federation (NSSF), said that the federation had backed the tournament because the Etisalat Soccer Championship was organised to develop and discover talents at grassroots.
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“We are proud of the tournament and committed to supporting the company in our capacity to promote sports at the grassroots level.
“We will stand on our records that the age group competition must be maintained with teams using the players in their right ages.
“Because the essence of the competition is to develop future talents and not so particular about the eventual champions,” Mohammed said.
Francesco Angelone, the Chief Marketing Officer, Etisalat, the first Vice President, Nigeria Football Association, NFA, Seyi Akinwunmi, Nigeria’s Ex-International, Peter Rufai were amongst the notable people that watched final match. (NAN)