It was double tragedy on Thursday for Enugu as its male and female teams crashed out of the ARS 3 National Championship currently on at the Agege Township Stadium, Lagos. The ouster of the teams makes them the first casualties of the tournament.
In the Tournament opening match in the female category, the girls from the coal city lost the chance to progress to the semi-finals after losing 3-4 on penalties to Ibadan’s Oluyole Girls. They had taken the lead in the first half through Racheal Brown after a neat exchange of passes, but were soon back on level terms after Kafayat Shittu converted from the spot for the Ibadan girls.
The first half ended wiith no clear cut chances falling to either side to increase their goal tally. It was Enugu who began the second half on a brighter note, and would have gone ahead on two occasions, but for poor finishing. As it were, the scary moment continued for the Ibadan girls as the second half wore on, though they lost a golden moment to seal a victory in the dying seconds of regulation time.
Enugu’s woes became compounded after its male team was defeated 3-0 by Kaduna in the first quarter final match. It was a match overtly dominated by Kaduna who outplayed their opponents, showing a higher degree of discipline, coordination and display of skills.
In the second quarter-final match in the female category also decided today, team Lagos lost to their counterparts from Kaduna. Vivian Ikechukwu had put the team ahead shortly after the resumption of play in the second half when she escaped from her marker to slot home following a thorough ball from Olabiyi Folajomi; but this was shortlived when Halima Audu, converted from the spot to draw level for Kaduna and cap a fine outing.
Reacting to the loss of his teams, Chief Coach of Enugu, Callistus Ibe said his team were destined not to go beyond the quarter-finals while highlighting the role of luck in football.
In the semi-final matches to be played Saturday, Ibadan girls will square up against defending champion, Port Harcourt while Kaduna will play against the girls from the FCT. In the male category, last year finalist, Port Harcourt will be up against Kaduna while Lagos will come up against Ibadan.
12 male and female teams totaling 192 players drawn from six zones across the nation are featuring in the three-day Championship.
The teams qualified for the three-day championship after featuring in the zonal championship phase where they had to see off strong competition for the national finals tickets from other equally good teams in their zones. They include Kaduna, Abuja, Enugu, Port Harcourt, Ibadan and Lagos, all of which will be featuring both in the male and female categories.
One of the key features of the national championship, aside determining the national champions, is that it will double as a qualifier for the ARS inter-country championship slated for Lagos next month.
Tournament partners, Youth Sports Federation of Nigeria (YSFON) and the Nigeria Football Coaches Association (NFCA) are to lead an independent team of assessors including grassroots coaches to oversee technical concerns during the championship.
The Airtel Rising Stars U-17 Tourney, in its third year running, is a pan African initiative of Airtel Africa, designed to provide support for the development of football talents across African markets.
