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NPFL PLAYOFF: AGEGE FANS WILL SEE ONUWA IN ACTION, ENYIMBA COACH PROMISES

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Diminutive Chukwuka Onuwa for three seasons was a favourite of fans of MFM FC.

At the Temple of Football, as Agege Stadium was nicknamed, Onuwa have orchestrated so many moves through ball passing and scruff of the neck runs that led to goals at the most crucial moments for the Church club which in a surprising move, approved his transfer to Enyimba International at the start of the season.

At the start of the 2019 NPFL Championship Playoff, Onuwa’s fans thronged the Agege stadium hoping to see him in action for the People’s Elephants only to be disappointed on all three occasions. A quiet agitation from the fans reached Journalists who took it to Enyimba’s Coach, Usman Abdallah.

During the post match conference after Enyimba humbled Lobi Stars, 3-1, Abdallah addressed the clamour of the fans.

“We have a rich squad and each player has his specific contribution to the squad which we select such players for. Onuwa is an important member of our team and he was almost going to come in against Lobi Stars…he will have his day and I can assure his fans especially the Lagos people that Onuwa is appreciated in Enyimba. I will play Onuwa for Lagos fans but they should not forget that before he plays for them, he is an Enyimba player”, explained Abdallah.

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Beyond the Onuwa clamour, Abdallah took stock of the team’s performance after three games which has seen Enyimba win two and lost won. After defeating archrivals, Rangers 1-0 in the tournament’s first Eastern Derby, Enyimba crashed 2-0 to Kano Pillars and went on to crush Lobi Stars 3-1 to stay on six points behind Pillars who are on seven points.

“I did say at the end of the regular season that the playoff presenta a different context and it is already showing here with unexpected results. We have an open aspiration which is to win the title or pick a continental ticket and we cannot consider any of the aspirations met until our last game. 

“Enyimba is in a good position to win the title but at the moment, it is not really on our hands as Kano Pillars enjoy the advantage now. So, we are focusing on winning our remaining games and then see how others fare. We are not ruling out anything”, Abdallah told Journalists at the post match briefing.

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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