7th July, 2011
 Ekene Duru scored the lone goal for Eleven Strikers in their opening match against Lombardo FC in the ongoing Boska Cup. He spoke with SUNDAY AKINTOYE about his expectations in their next match
You scored the only goal that qualified your team to the second round, how did you feel about that?
It was a good start for us because Lambaro FC gave us a tough time. We were under pressure towards the end of the match but thank goodness that we came out victorious at the end of the day.
Your fans and teammates will be expecting much from you in the next game, are you under pressure?
I am not under pressure to score more goals. As a striker, my primary objective is to score and contribute to the success of the club which I had done in our first match against Lambaro FC.
Are you eyeing the highest goal scorer’s award having recorded your name in the goal scorer chart in the championship?
It is the ambition of every striker to be the top scorer of a tournament of this magnitude. As I said earlier, my assignment on the field of play is to score goals and I believe that we can go far in this tournament.
Where do you see your team in this competition?
Of course we can reach the final. We have prepared well for the competition. We have the right attitude and approach to the game.
If you watch our first match, you will see we were tactical and played as a team, this paved way for our success. I pray we maintain the tempo in our next game.
Your midfield collapsed in the second half of the game and there was intense pressure on the team, what went wrong?
It is true that the midfield collapsed as you observed. I think it is left for our coach to fortify the midfield before our next match. I can say authoritatively that we have good defenders which really helped us to reach the second round of the tournament.
Where would you be in the next five years?
I will be in Europe and become Africa footballer of the year.
Is this not a tall ambition?
It is my dream and I believe some day it will come to past.