27th November, 2012
Nigeria flag was raised high in Cote D’ Ivoire last weekend, as Lagos State Junior League Runners up, Apapa Golden Stars outclassed Volcan Junior of Cote D’ Ivoire 3-1 to emerge third in the Tournoi International Du District D’ Abidjan football competition in Abidjan.
The team, being sponsored by the Apapa Local Government Chairman, Ayodeji Joseph, narrowly lost 2-1 to the Barcelona Youth Team in the semi final last Friday, and bounced back forcefully to defeat Volcan 3-1 on Saturday at the Stadium le Marcory, Koumassi.
After a very balanced game in the first twenty minutes of the game, Kadir Atanda opened scoring in the 25th minuteswith a superb shot, which caught the Ivorien keeper unaware. The first half ended 1-0 in favour of Apapa team.
Atanda, who is popularly called ‘Deco’ increased the tally in the 65th minute, while Ade Adegbola made it 3-0 ten minutes later before Volcan Junior team scored a consolatory goal late in the game to make the final scoreline 3-1.
Kadir Atanda emerged the tournament highest goal scorer with 4 goals from the 8-team international competition.
Playing in Group B, Apapa Golden Stars lost 1-0 to Volcan Junior before defeating Academie De Football Mohammed of Morocco 1-0 and beat Feyenord Academy of Ghana by 1-0 to reach the semi final.
Barcelona won the tournament after defeating the ASEC Mimosas Junior team 5-4 via penalty shootout, as the game ended 1-1 at regulation time.
Other teams that featured in Group A are Kada International School of Burkina Faso and Saleccao Academy of Cote D’ Ivoire. This is the third international tournament that the Apapa Golden Stars will be participating since their inception in 2010.