13th September, 2011
Chief Coach of Nigeria’s Super Eagles, Samson Siasia, has commended the sponsor of the 2011 Gulder Ultimate 5-A-side Football Champions, Nigerian Breweries Plc., for its effort to develop the potential of the youth in football.
Sholly Babes Football Club of Lagos defeated Mcjeff Football Club of Port Harcourt by 2-0 in the final of the tourney decided at the indoor Gymnastic Complex of Nigerian Institute of Sports (NIS), National Stadium, Surulere Lagos on Saturday.
Siasia, who was one of the dignitaries that added glamour to the final ceremony, praised the players for exceeding display of talents in the competition, and thanked the sponsor for investing huge human and financial resources in promoting the game of football in Nigeria.
“I want to thank Nigerian Breweries Plc and the Gulder brand for carrying out this exciting annual football competition. The Gulder Ultimate 5-A-side Football competition has helped exposed and nurtured young budding football talents that were hitherto hidden in the country. It gives me immense pleasure to be involved in this initiative.
“I can assure you that they have great potential to go further with football as a career, This is the kind of thing we want in Nigeria. We want corporate bodies to come to the aid of football house with different football initiatives that can bring out those raw talents for us to turn our national team around,†said the Super Eagles’ coach, who was at the venue alongside Augusten Eguavoen, Chief Coach of the country’s U-23 Eagles.
Eguaveon said after the final that “I have been following the tournament from the beginning; and I am quite impressed with what I have seen here today. The standard of play in the final is very high, energy sapping though; but it shows that we still have great football talents in the country.â€