1st November, 2012
Olowookere Bankole is the Assistant Coach of Team Lagos ahead of the National Sports Festival. He was also in charge of Lagos Office of Sports during the 2012 HOS Cup Football Competition. He speaks with Grassroots Soccer Guide on how his team lost scandalously to Ministry of the Environment in the Final which held recently at Agege Stadium
Your team suffered a heavy defeat in the hands of Ministry of Environment in the female final of HOS Cup, how would you react to this?
It was a disappointing result and we took the result in good faith. Our preparation towards the final was not too impressive which resulted in our defeat.
It seems your ladies were tired before the match?
You are absolute correct. Most of my players are coaches in various sports and some of them were coming from their various training sessions to play the HOS Cup final which really affected their performance on the field of play.
Why didn’t you inform the organisers to shift the date so that your team would have enough time to prepare for the final?
The date has been fixed and there is nothing we can do about that. Some of my players who are working in the Lagos Sports Ministry or Sports Councils are preparing their teams for the National Sports Festival, so I cannot tell them not to go for their training sessions because the Lagos Sports Festival is bigger than the HOS Cup.
How would you rate the performance of Ministry of Environment against your team?
They were at their best. They played good football, dominated the game from the blast of the whistle till the end. I want to congratulate them for the victory recorded against my team.
What should we expect from your ministry in the next edition?
Office of Sports Ministry will bounce back in 2013.We are going to be better and stronger and I pray that we should meet Ministry of Environment again.