By Daily Sports on December 12, 2019

At the Emotan Secondary School football field in central Benin City on Wednesday, December 11, tens of invited players who impressed in last week’s trial matches between grassroots clubs in Benin City began training under the watchful eyes of Edo State Sports Council coaches as the team prepares to play host to other state teams in next year’s National Sports Festival.

The training session mainly involved several 7-A side games as the coaches assessed the fitness levels of the players and tried to have more first-hand information on the technical and tactical qualities of the players.

The session, which was the first of what would be several weeks of intense preparations, commenced at about 10am and saw some players making early positive impressions. One of such players was petit midfielder Efe Ugiagbe who caught the eye with his nippy movement and ball control which drew repeated applause from the appreciative fans who came to watch the session.

Goalkeeper Daniel Tosan also wowed with his composed ball distribution, underlining why he is perhaps one of, if not, the most complete youth goalkeeper in Edo State today.

Tosan’s defense organisation skills were also on full display as he positioned his defenders into a compact shape, making it hard for spaces for opponents to penetrate his goal.

Benin Warriors winger and right back Clement Andrew showed flashes of his trademark bursting runs at the edge of the opponents box from where he delivered a couple of delightful crosses which caused panic in the opposing penalty area. 

It is expected that more invited players will resume training in the coming days, including the likes of prolific striker Precious Ediae, midfield creator Solomon Osaghae, solid defender Stephen Edafe all of who are currently playing for Koko-based grassroots club Rolly FC who are set for a testy final match clash against Warri side Lord Honor FC in the Bet9ja Cup competition on Sunday, December 15, at the Stephen Keshi stadium in Asaba.

One of the coaches of the Edo state festival football team and ex-Golden Eagles star Anthony Emoedofu expressed optimism about the Edo football team gelling before the sports festival.

“We’ve started well. The players are fully focused and the signs are good. We in the coaching crew want to do a thorough job and make sure we put together a solid team that will do Edo State proud in the sports festival,” Emoedofu said.

The coach rules out the possibility of players making the team on the basis of their name recognition rather than on their form. 

“Firstly, players who didn’t train with us for a good period stand no chance of making the team. For us in the coaching crew, the main requirements for players are a real desire to be in the team, to work hard in training so we can get a fully and well blended team that will represent the state with pride at the sports festival,” Emoedofu adds.

Meanwhile, the reconstruction works at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium continues with the mainbowl nearing full readiness for matches. 

The 10,000 capacity main bowl which is wearing a new beautiful look, has been fitted with shiny plastic seats and the stands are fully covered with gigantic roofing sheets.

Source Daily Sports

Posted December 12, 2019

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