The gap between top level Beach Soccer and Top level football has narrowed with the growing popularity of the former. Day after day, we have new instances of Beach Soccer stars who excel among the elite divisions on the grass.
Four of these beach soccer stars will be at the 2013 COPA Lagos Beach Soccer Tournament and are among the players vying for the Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award slated to be announced at the end of the competition.
Nigeria’s Abu Azeez Abolaji, Senegal’s Pape Jean Koukpaki, Lebanon’s Haitham Fattaland Germany’s Oliver Romrigare in the running for the prestigious title.
Leading the pack is Abu Azeez. The Kwara United playerwho was the top scorer at last year’s Copa Lagos Beach tourney. Azeez has amazing ball control, is fast, has lots of power while holding the ball and can open space for himself as well as others.
Senegalese striker Pape Jean Koukpaki is one of the key players of the beach Lions of Teranga, and is one of the most important figures of the Dakar based US Ouakam. Koukpakiwas key to the recent success of his team as African Champions. With a powerful physique (193 cm and 84 kilos), his excellent mastery of the game has turned the supple attacker into one of most dreaded opponents in the whole championship.
Another player who will stake a strong claim for the MVP honours is Lebanon’s finest beach soccer star striker Haitham Fattal. Fattal finished as the highest goal scorer at the Asian Beach Games with 11 goals last year. Having a reputation of showcasing impressive goals; Fattal is also known to be an outstanding defender.
Also vying for the MVP accolade is German’s attacking midfielder, Oliver Romrig. The captain of the German team, Romrig has been the consummate leader in his team. The 31 year old is an agile player who is used to racking up top goals in each tournament he has played.
Inspired by the phenomenal success and growing popularity of the game, Nigerian banking giant, FCMB, are one of the major sponsors supporting the event which seeks to enhance youth soccer skills through continued play and skill development.
“Copa Lagos provided the opportunity to play for Nigeria and now other players can aspire. My performances on the beach helped me sign for Kwara United” said Azeez.
He also stated that he has a personal goal of scoring more than the threegoals he scored last December to emerge as the MVP.“It is not about personal glory but I hope to score the goals that will help my team retain the trophy,” he concluded.
With the third edition of COPA Lagos just around the corner, COPA Lagos, Africa’s biggest beach party which includes the soccer tournament, fashion show and musical concerts, kicks off at the Eko Atlantic beach front from December 13th – 15th with Germany, Nigeria Lebanon and Senegal competing for honours.
