Defending champions of the National Fives Championship, De Royal Fc of Lagos, on saturday,at the Hilario Campos
mini-stadium,Lagos, successfully defended the title it won last year.
The competition which was the Nigeria qualifiers for the Football World Championship slated to hold March, 2016, in
Bangkok, Thailand, started in November, 2015, with over 1000 teams participating in qualifiers across the six geo-political zones of the country.
The qualifiers produced 16 teams from different parts of the country, who converged in Lagos for the finals.
The teams were divided into four group of four teams each, with the top two qualifying for the quaters and then to the semis, that saw De Royals defeating Awolowo fc of Lagos, 1-0 in the the first semi-final.
And in the other semi-final game AGO fc from Ogun state also beat Kaduna state representatives, Kakuri fc, 1-0 to set up an epic final game against De Royal fc of Lagos.
In the exciting final game that had the capacity crowd that included several dignataries and football
stakeholders, including NFF 1st Vice-President and Chairman of Lagos FA, Barrister Seyi Akinwunmi, Dr.Tijani Yusuf, Senior Special Adviser to the Governor of Lagos State, Adeyinka Adeboye, Victor Ikpeba, Jonathan Akpoborire, Yomi Opakunle, Samson Adamu of Copa Lagos fame amongst other important personalities, on the
edges of their seats.
It was the Ogun state side, AGO fc, who scored the curtain raiser. And expectedly,crowd favourites, De Royal fc got the equalizer with a powerful strike off the boots of its talismanic player, Kabiru Nasiru, as the first half ended on equal
terms.
In the second stanza, it was a end to end action, with neither side able to break the deadlock. At the end of regulation
time,the pulsating encounter went straight into penalties, with De Royal winning 5-4, to cart home the giant golden trophy and a whopping N1.5m cash prize.
Individual honours went to Semiu Adegboyega of De Royal, as the best keeper of the competition.
Duminitive attacker of De Royal fc, Kabiru Nasiru, got double honours as he was chosen the Most Valuable Player, as well as the highest scorer of the competition with 7 goals.
Speaking at the end of the competition, Bayo Akande, CEO of Five Sports, expressed gratitude for a successful competition.
“I am glad that this year’s edition was a huge success and also an improvement on the last edition” he said.
“we would like to thank our Sponsors Olympic Milk for their immense support we really appreciate the fact that the brand has come to identify with Nigerian Sports through their various sponsorship
He disclosed that there are plans to increase the venues to more than 12 cities and also increase the participation across all
ages, gender and abilities.
Five Sports who has the exclusive license rights as the Local Organizing Committee to organize the competition in Nigeria, is also keen to forster national social integration,using the fun medium of 5-a-side football to promote discipline, healthy living, team ethics and fair competitive playing among amateur players.
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