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AZEEZ’S HOPES FOR THE FUTURE OF NIGERIAN BEACH SOCCER

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At the last World Cup, Nigeria failed to get out of their group. But Azeez, who is a Beach Soccer Worldwide Ambassador and passionate about developing the game for both men and women back home, is encouraged by his young team after a successful Copa Lagos a couple weeks ago, where they defeated Brazil and England.

However, it is a team that won’t be present in Paraguay that Azeez looks up to for inspiration and sets as an example for Nigeria beach soccer to emulate.

“We played against Iran in 2017,” he said. “They were not as special or as skilful as the Brazilians or the Italians, but they play as a compact team and they understood themselves well.

“They play as a team and have a lot of continuity. I want Nigeria beach soccer to get to that level. I want us to have continuity and to continue building. I want us to dominate beach soccer tournaments all over the world.”

IR Iran finished with the bronze medal in 2017, and only missed out on making the final after a narrow penalty shootout-defeat by Tahiti. If Azeez and Co follow in Team Melli’s footsteps, they could be making history for their country on the Asuncion sand.

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Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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