Nigeria Content Online

The
Shell sponsored Governor’s Cup football tournament, which ended in
Rivers State at the weekend, has been praised by three former members
of the Super Eagles for its quality.

One after the
other, former Eagles captain, Segun Odegbami, Henry Nwosu and John
Fashanu said after the match that the skills exhibited by the young
players indicate that the future of football in Nigeria lies at the
grassroots.

Odegbami, who in his days entertained football fans with his dribbles down the flanks said:

“First, the idea
is fantastic, secondly, it is at local government level which means we
are going to the grassroots and I was highly surprised to find the
quality of players and quality of football we saw today.

“In fact, I am
going to go out of my way to pass on the message to one or two people
in authority to invite one or two of them for trial at the national
team level that goes to show how impressed I am with what I saw today.
Technically, organisationally, I am impressed.”

Encouraging display

His teammate in the
Green Eagles and a former coach of the Golden Eaglets, Nwosu weighed in
noting that the display put up by the youngsters is encouraging: “I am
impressed with what I saw today (Saturday) most especially from the two
teams that I watched, they showed class, skills and discipline which is
very important. There are some budding talents among them that if
nurtured, they will go places in the nearest future,” he said.

For Fashanu, who
played his professional football in England, the players who featured
in the Shell Cup particularly in the final will excel globally if given
proper exposure.

The final match was
played between defending champions, Okrika and new comers, Obio Apkor
Local Government councils with Obio Akpor running away with a 3-1
victory.

Meanwhile, Shell
Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC), sponsor of the
tournament has restated its commitment to continue sponsoring the event.

Mutiu Sunmonu, Managing Director of the organisation who was pleased with the outcome of the tournament,

said: “Shell is
committed towards the development of grassroots football; I must
confess to you that this year’s game is one of the best I have watched.”