Nigerian Football
3SC, Crown in Sixth Straight FA Cup Final
BY JUBRIL AROWOLO
For the sixth consecutive year, Shooting Stars and Crown FC will play in the final of the Oyo State FA Cup final. The two state owned club sides have stamped their authorities on this competition by making it impossible for other rivals to break their authority.
But the pendulum swings more to Crown of Ogbomosho who have won in three of the last five final matches since the 2012 that the rivalry began.
The more popular Shooting Stars won in 2012 and 2015. Will Crown FC crown their dominance with yet another victory this year? That is left for answer on Sunday when both meet on the familiar turf of Lekan Salami Stadium, Ibadan.
The Spartan turf of Lekan Salami Stadium which had been the battle ground for many well fought football wars has almost become ‘a no-man’s land’ for the two contending sides having served as the venue for all the participating club sides since the beginning of this competition.
This is the background of this epic final and both teams are not toying with the outcome of the encounter, giving all the attention it deserves.
For the Shooting Stars, it is a tie they want to win going by the available records of trailing their Ajilete brothers with two wins out of five in their past meetings. Determination was almost visible on the faces of Shooting Stars players who are more than determined to turn around the spate of bad results they have had in the first stanza of the Nigerian league.
Even the coach is not left behind in the strong resolve to overcome Crown FC. Technical Adviser, Fatai Amoo was in charge during the 2013 loss to the Ajilete Boys and seems to be wary of history repeating itself!
“It is a big match for us; Crown FC has won more than us in our five meetings. My last time here could still be remembered when they beat us via penalty shootout. Gbolahan Salami and Kabiru Alausa (one of my assistant coaches now) lost theirs”, Amoo said to www.3sc.com.ng.
Toeing the same line of thought is the head coach, England-trained Edith Agoye who believes that the game will bring out the best in his players in preparation for the league resumption.
“Anytime, any day Crown FC is a serious opponent and we can’t take them with kid’s glove. I have told the players and my coaches about the seriousness of this match, we shall give it our best and it’s going to be interesting “, he remarked.
“We are always ready and considering the fact that Crown FC has been winning the FA Cup that’s something that gives us extra motivation.
“And as well, this might probably be the last competitive match before the resumption of the second and players are vying for shirts and they know it’s a big opportunity to pick a place when the second round comes. So, all hands are on deck”, he concluded.
The Nigeria U17 women’s team has been given incentives to make it to the Women’s World Cup for the eighth time.
The team, Flamingos, who arrived in Algiers in the early hours of Wednesday aboard a Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul, are highly inspired by the imminence of another FIFA World Cup ticket as well as further financial windfall from the Nigeria Football Federation and billionaire business mogul Kunle Soname.
Soname gifted the young players and their officials the sum of N4 million (one million naira for every goal) following their commanding win over the North Africans at the Remo Stars Stadium on Saturday, while the NFF gave out the sum of N2 million (five hundred thousand naira for every goal).
President of NFF, Ibrahim Musa Gusau and Soname have both confirmed that the same financial incentives are in place for the second leg in Blida on Friday.
“Our objective is clear – to win the FIFA World Cup ticket. That is the big motivation.
“Yet, we have been further incentivised by the monetary rewards. My girls will go all out on Friday night,” Head Coach Bankole Olowookere said.
Olowookere, who led the Flamingos to their last two World Cup ventures, will most likely rely on first-leg two-goal heroine Queen Joseph, lone-goal scorer Zainab Raji and Kaosarat Olanrewaju to start at the fore, with Shakirat Moshood, Muinat Rotimi and Philomena Isaiah supplying the passes from the midfield.
Goalkeeper and captain Christiana Uzoma and defenders Azeezat Oduntan, Hannah Ibrahim, Christiana Sunday and Jumai Adebayo are also likely to start.
The Confederation of African Football has selected Cameroonian official Marie Noelle Etong to be the referee, with her compatriots Marcelle Teikeu and Innocentia Ntangti as assistant referee 1 and fourth official, respectively, while Chadian Ngarassoum Victorine will be assistant referee 2.
Oumou Souleymane Kane from Mauritania will be the commissioner, and Sabelo Maphosa-Sibindi from Zimbabwe will be in the role of referee assessor.
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Former president of the initially 15-member West African Football Union (WAFU), Chief Jonathan Boytie Ogufere, has expressed his heartfelt condolences over the recent death of former national team captain and coach, Christian ‘Chairman’ Chukwu.
He remarked that the erstwhile Enugu Rangers’ defence stalwart will ‘be dearly missed’. In a personally signed letter of condolence, Ogufere described Chukwu, who died on Saturday, April 12, in Enugu after a brief illness at 74, as a ‘hero of our time and a friend’.
The nonagenarian recalled with nostalgia how he nearly recruited the young Chukwu for his P & T Vasco da Gama Football Club of Enugu, adding he was impressed with how the ‘Field Marshal Christian Chukwuemeka ‘Chairman ‘ Chukwu (MFR), conducted himself throughout his career as he led both the national team, the then Green Eagles and his beloved Enugu Rangers to many conquests.
“I join numerous others to mourn the transition of the legendary Christian Chukwu, a hero of our time and friend,” the Ugbugba of Okpe Kingdom wrote.
“As one of the young academicals discovered after the end of the Civil War in 1970, I tried to enlist into my club, the P & T Vasco da Gama Football Club of Enugu but he was fair and frank in informing me that he had already joined Enugu Ranges Football Club, and I respected that attitude. From the rivalries between the two clubs, his exploits as a central defender were very visible.”
He continued: “Christian Chukwu emerged at the national level as a trustworthy and formidable captain of the national team who led by example.
“He was one of the heroes during the Golden age of Nigerian football when I was one of the Board Members of the Nigeria Football Association under the chairmanship of Chief Sunday Dankaro as Nigeria won the Africa Cup of Nations in 1980 for the first time where Christian Chukwu as captain of the Green Eagles was declared the best player of the tournament. He led the national team in several battles, which endeared him to millions of football lovers.
“After his playing days, he showed his talents through coaching in Nigeria and abroad.
“I express my sincere condolences to the family he left behind, the football family and the country in general. He will be dearly missed.
“May the good Lord grant his noble soul eternal rest,” he noted.
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Remo Stars are coasting to what will be their greatest moment ever, a win of the Nigeria Premier Football League title, as they recorded a 1-0 win over Shooting Stars in Ibadan in a match played behind closed doors.
In doing so, they achieved their sixth double of the season, having earlier beaten Shooting Stars in the first stanza of the league.
They maintained the seven-point lead over second-placed Rivers United, who also beat Sunshine Stars 1-0 in Port Harcourt.
After a ding-dong affair, Alex Oyowah scored the vital goal for Remo Stars from a right-wing cross from Ismail Sodiq.
In another match, Ikorodu City continued to work tenaciously to obtain a continental ticket as they held El Kanemi to a 1-1 draw.
SUNDAY RESULTS
- El Kanemi 1-1 Ikorodu City
- Niger Tornados 1-1 Bayelsa United
- Heartland 0-0 Kwara United
- Plateau United 1-0 Akwa United
- Rivers United 1-0 Sunshine Stars
- Shooting Stars 0-1 Remo Stars
- Bendel United 1-1 Nasarawa United
SATURDAY
- Katsina United 0-0 Abia Warriors
- Enyimba 2-1 Kano Pillars
- Lobi Stars 2-4 Enugu Rangers
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